D.A.N. Dive Insurance for over 70 in Wa. Update Aug 14 2020

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PapaZ
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D.A.N. Dive Insurance for over 70 in Wa. Update Aug 14 2020

Post by PapaZ »

:rawlings:

August 14, 2020 4:45 P.M..

Below is the last couple emails back and forth with D.A.N. about dive insurance for those of us over 70 in Washington State.

Appears that D.A.N. is trying for a new underwriter?

Shall see.

Please feel free to share this with clubs and groups.
Would really be nice if some additional emails went to D.A.N. to let them know there are quite a few of us old duffers that still enjoy diving.

Also, I have emailed Washington Scuba Alliance a couple times asking them to pursue our needs but no response from them.

Best to all and enjoy the wonderful waters of the Pacific Northwest,

PapaZ

===================


Re: Question Regarding: Insurance
Fri, Aug 14, 2020 4:27 pm
(kennz@aol.com)To:kkray@dan.org Details
Good afternoon and thank you for the detailed response.

As you have probably determined, we (speaking for all of us over 70 in Washington State) do not really want to file a lawsuit, but the intent is to grab some attention to our needs.
As you know, this has been going on for over a year and a half with no resolution for our state.
We are quite curious as to why other states of divers over 70 have been accepted but not ours.

We shall be looking forward to your response as soon as a new underwritter approves.

Sincerely,

Mr. C.K. Zahn

-----Original Message-----
From: Kyle Kray <kkray@dan.org>
To>
Sent: Fri, Aug 14, 2020 1:07 pm
Subject: FW: Question Regarding: Insurance
Hello Clarence,

The underwriter informed us that they have not reached out to you personally due to the fact you are making the special request for DAN to initiate a lawsuit against them. They didn’t feel it was appropriate for them to respond to your inquiry, and instead informed us that we will need to address your request from Tuesday, August 4, 2020 4:12 PM
The official position of Divers Alert Network is to not file a lawsuit against the underwriter as you have requested for it is not a practical course of action. It is not a discriminatory practice for an insurance company to have eligibility age limits for coverage if advancing age is a risk factor. It is understood and accepted that with accident plans, risk increases with advancing age. It is not uncommon for accident plans, particularly accident-only plans, to impose an eligibility age limit.

Rather than proceeding with legal action against the current underwriter, DAN’s position was to instead take the necessary steps to contract with an underwriter who does not impose an eligibility age limit. Filing with a new underwriter is underway but it is a lengthy process. As soon as the state of Washington has been approved by the new underwriter, I will personally reach out to you with an update to notify you that the situation has been resolved.

Kindest regards,

Kyle Kray


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August 5, 2020
From D.A.N.

Hello Clarence,
Thank you for your email.
I have notified our Director of Insurance Compliance here at DAN of your concerns by sharing your email with her. She in turn notified the underwriter (AIG US Life) who informed us that they will be contacting you directly with a response.
Kindest regards,
Kyle



From: DAN <DAN@dan.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 4, 2020 4:12 PM
To: Diver001 <member@dan.org>
Subject: Question Regarding: Insurance

A client has a question for you!

Client Name: Clarence Kenneth Zahn

Email:

Question: Dear D.A.N., You have not responded to my previous email question of a couple weeks ago:

so let's try this: D.A.N., would you be our advocate and file on the behalf of all the divers over the age of 70 in Washington State, an age discrimination lawsuit against the current underwriter of the current D.A.N. diver accident insurance?

The Washington State Insurance Commissioner has stated that it is not Washington State that is refusing to insure but the underwriter of the insurance policy.

Sincerely, Mr. Clarence K. Zahn
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eh.haole
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Re: D.A.N. Dive Insurance for over 70 in Wa. Update Aug 14 2020

Post by eh.haole »

Why is it hard for them to just continue primary emergency care coverage for rare DCS incidents (e.g. chamber), and leave the whole "we think your age might be a general health risk outside of diving-specific/DCS primary care" up to medicare, etc?

As a "young" diver, I would be willing to pay 10% or 25% for DAN coverage if it means they stop trying to weasel out of lifetime diving-specific emergency care coverage.
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