Diving & Life Insurance

Scuba diving is an amazing experience. I did it once in Greece and loved it. We have a fantastic underwater picture where I look like a sea troll (didn’t think to tie my hair up).

One-off scuba diving on holiday is unlikely to have any bearing on your life insurance application.

For people that are scuba diving regularly insurers like to know some specific details of your dives.

Our advisers will ask you:

• How often are you diving?
• Where are you diving?
• What is the greatest depth that you go to?
• Are you scuba diving as part of a group or solo?
• Do you use mixed air?
• Do you go into caves or wrecks?

These are more questions than you will see in a life insurance application as we are asking you for extra bits of information that some insurers like to know about. Once we know the answers to these questions we can then make sure that we are going to the best insurer for you from the start.

Scuba divers life insurance applications will generally need to detail the frequency of your dives, whether you dive to depths of more than 40m or do more hazardous pursuits such as wreck diving, pothole diving or cave diving. Insurers will probably want to know if you always have sight of the exit if you do these things.

Each client is assessed on a case by case basis and factors such as the frequency of the dives, your experience and qualifications (PADI and BSAC) will all have a bearing on the policy acceptance terms. If the insurer feels that your scuba diving is of a higher risk, they might increase the premiums of your policy.

There are different ways that life insurance premiums can be increased, one way is often not a huge difference, the other way can lead to silly prices. That is why it’s so important to speak to advisers like us, so that we can get you the best price for life insurance.

If you dive as part of your occupation please see our occupation diving page.

Critical illness cover pays out a cash lump sum of money, if you are diagnosed with a medical condition that is listed in the insurer’s claims set e.g. cancer, heart attack, stroke.

As with life insurance, critical illness cover for divers should not be too difficult to arrange. You can find that some insurers will off you critical illness cover at normal terms. 

If you diving frequently or take part in dives such as wreck exploration, ice dives or cave exploration then you can find that some insurers will increase your policy premiums or exclude claims that happen whilst you are diving.

If you are offered an exclusion on critical illness cover this will not sound great, but it’s important to remember that the exclusion would purely be for when you are actually diving.

Our expert advisers will talk you through critical illness cover options that are available to you.

Income protection pays you a replacement of your monthly income, if you are unable to work due to ill health.

Income protection for divers can be available at standard terms with some insurers. You will need to inform the insurer of the depths that you dive to, any diving related injuries that you have had and it can be hlepful to detail any qualifications that you hold.

A one-off scuba dive or diving that you do every now and then when you go on holiday, is unlikely to have any negative impact to your income protection application.

The insurers are mainly looking for diving that they would consider to be high risk. An interesting thing with insurance is that what an insurer considers high risk can be different to what you feel is. Each insurer is different and the key thing is to find the insurer that matches you.

Our award winning advisers are here to find the best income protection policy to suit you and your hobby.

In order to take part in frequent dives, it is important for scuba divers to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Divers who are fit and active may find that an insurance policy that rewards a healthy lifestyle can work well for them. 

There are some insurances that allow you to earn rewards and reduce your policy premiums by recording your exercise. To find out more please visit our healthy living page.