June 24, 2019: A student lies on his medical form. He suffers a fatal heart attack during training. His family, who knows nothing about diving, decides it must be your fault. They hire a lawyer who promises everyone responsible will pay.
This is why why those of us in the USA carry professional liability insurance. It’s not so much to cover the cost of a judgment. Insurance companies almost always settle out of court, regardless of whether you are at fault. The chief reason you carry insurance is to cover the cost of defense. This can easily run tens of thousands of dollars, even if you are blameless.
It’s important to understand plaintiff’s attornies seldom stop with the instructor. They sue everyone from whom they might collect. This includes dive sites, equipment manufacturers and, yes, diver training organizations.
And while these entities may carry liability insurance, it does not cover diver training. This is why dive operators and training agencies require you to name them as additional insureds on your policy. It’s the only protection they have.
Make sure the Section is covered
Do you teach in the USA? Have you named NSS-CDS as an additional insured on your policy? If not, do so now. It costs nothing and provides us with much-needed protection.
Having to bear the cost of defense could easily mean the end of the CDS. We’ve learned this the hard way. Trust us, you don’t want to be the person responsible for the demise of cave diving’’s premier training organization. Not when preventing it takes just a few minutes.
Get us your insurance certificate
Just as with any training organization, if you teach in the USA you must send the Section a copy of your updated liability insurance certificate, listing the CDS as an additional insured. Email it directly to the CDS Training Program administrative office. Do it now so we needn’t nag you later.