Insurance For War Zones And Other Dangerous Places!

With the amount of business rolling in for people working in AFghanistan and Iraq as civilian contractors it seemed an appropriate time to take a look at some of the other worldwide dangerous occupations where people are not going to find off the shelf accidental death and disability insurance.

Most of the contractors that are working in war zones are working one year or two year contracts, or as an oil field company we just put in force, they are there 5 weeks on and 5 off, so only need coverage while they’re in Iraq, essentially 6 months a year. This is underwritten by Lloyds of London, the world leader in specialty insurance, and in my mind so fairly priced that it’s one of those things you shouldn’t leave home without. If you do leave home without it you can still put it in force while you’re there via email. for the average civilian contractor job in Afghanistan $500,000 of accidental death and dismemberment and accidental permanent total disability is only about $300 a month. It can be substantially less in groups of 10 or more and way less for groups of 100 or more.

But really there are plenty of dangerous places in the world that people go to make a great living. I know not all crab, lobster and fish fishermen and women don’t make the big bucks, a lot of them do. But the point isn’t always the amount of money you make, but the fact that you are doing the most dangerous job in the world. Unless someone has life insurance in force before they decide on a fishing career, they aren’t getting traditional coverage after they’ve made that decision. And I can tell you that for those leaving a family on shore, even if the person only took out $100,000 of AD&D and APTD, something is going to be far better than nothing if something happens. The great thing about those jobs is that they are short term, running anywhere from 1-3 months, so you don’t have to buy a years worth of insurance to be covered. You just pay for the length of the season.

Same thing goes for mountain climbing guides. While they would probably feel pretty safe climbing with other guides, when they’re leading the inexperienced up some crazy steep 20,000+ foot mountain, anything can happen. And for those who are being guided, you are probably in very good hands, but more insurance could be MRR (marriage license required). The beauty of these policies is that they are truly short term with even the most robust climbs being over in 40 days or so. I have a client in Canada that has plenty of life insurance and all of it would pay if he died climbing, but his wife said he needed another million if he wanted to try his next climb which was a bit more radical than any previous. Not like Colorado where a real mountain nut could knock off 40 of our 14ers in 40 days, weather permitting.

Just going off of some of the crazier things on TV I’m thinking I might want a little extra coverage if I was a reptile catcher in the Miami area, or a gator hunter in Louisiana. Loggers and ice road truckers! The added incentive for these guys is that they don’t just have job that make good money, they’re probably pulling down some decent money from TV also. Heck, they’re celebrities who need insuance.

Bottom line. If it’s dangerous and extra coverage is needed, no matter where in the world you’re working, we can help you. If you have any questions or would like a quote, call or email me directly. Let’s talk.