DEPP vs. H2Oinsurance

[nwscubamom]

I am looking at purchasing insurance for my camera, now that I've got one that would cost a pretty penny if something happened to it. There appear to be two major players in the dive gear insurance field - D.E.P.P. and H2Oinsurance (offered by DAN).

Both seem to be similar in price and deductibles, but I noticed one big drawback on the DAN/H2Oinsurance that caught my eye: They will not cover for items dropped overboard or swept overboard, or lost underwater.

I have dropped a camera a time or two, or had the wrist strap come off underwater, or dropped a lens that accidentally snagged while about to giant stride off a boat. To me this exclusion seems pretty big.

Does anyone with D.E.P.P know if they will cover these situations that DAN/H2Oinsurance won't cover? (I found precious little on their website unfortunately)

- Janna

[lundysd]

Janna,

I'm not sure about DEPP, but I've had mixed feelings about H20insurance. Their deductible is pretty high ($250 minimum or 10% for a flood, whichever is greater), which makes insuring anything but very expensive gear not worth it. ON the other hand, I had a can light flood like Noah was using it, and after receiving an estimate that was too high to repair, they reimbursed me the full retail amount minus deductible within days.

[cardiver]

The best warranty that I've ever had was through Squaretrade.com. The cost is about half of what you would pay for a normal retail warranty and you can purchase addition coverage for a very small dollar amount to cover loss from water damage.

[Tangfish]

I was just on a dive boat this past week with a woman who said that her UW DSLR rig got swept away on it's maiden dive, and she wasn't able to make a claim. At 5K, she cried the whole rest of the dive on the surface, and I can understand that. Let's all look into this and see what we come up with. I know my credit card covers loss or damage during the first 90 days, and doubles the duration of the warranty, but I doubt loss is covered under warranty and even flooding might not be.

[Tangfish]

The best warranty that I've ever had was through Squaretrade.com. The cost is about half of what you would pay for a normal retail warranty and you can purchase addition coverage for a very small dollar amount to cover loss from water damage.

Have you ever made a claim? If so, was it an easy process?

[cardiver]

I haven't had to make a claim but I read some reviews of their service and everything seems above board. They do a lot of business with E bay purchases on new and even on used products. It was so inexpensive to insure my camera for three years that it was a no brainer for me. I think that the original warranty extension was 30 bucks and the water damage added 5.00 to that.