It occurred to me as I was writing insurance on a civilian contractor working at a forward operating base in Afghanistan a few weeks ago that, that there must be others just like them. There must be other groups of people who could benefit from affordable dangerous occupation accidental death insurance but are having a hard time finding out about it, or even believing it exists.

I don’t know if this still holds true with the new big money careers working as civilian contractors in war zones, but I’ve always heard the the most dangerous job in the US is commercial fishing. I confess to being one of the billions that watch Deadliest Catch and I can see myself doing something like that when I was younger, back when I was immortal.

Commercial fishing, whether crabbing out of Alaska, or lobster of long line fishing for tuna or swordfish, is simply as dangerous as it gets, the world’s most dangerous job. At triple the mortality rate of it’s nearest competitor logging, it is not a job application to fill out lightly. So, if you’ve convinced your wife and family that being a commercial fishing person is a great opportunity, how do you then back that up with life insurance? Let me hit one of what I think is the gold nugget in these situations. If you took out life insurance before you came up with the idea of freezing your tail off on a fishing boat, you’re covered. As long as the insurance wasn’t taken out with the knowledge or forethought that you were going to jump into the world’s most dangerous profession, keep it in force.

So why doesn’t every man and woman out there have commercial fisherman life insurance? The problem I see is that most of the guys who are willing to do the work are seeing money in their eyes and aren’t really thinking about what happens if they don’t make it home. And if they take it on and don’t already have life insurance in force, well, there’s really only one option. Fortunately it’s a reasonable option. In fact, I thought it was so reasonable that before I blogged about it I contacted both the Alaska Crab Coalition and the Governor of Alaska’s office with the question about how best to get the word out to at least those in the crab business. Maybe attempted to contact is a better way to put it….several times. Not a lot of interest (none) there.

So here’s the deal. These numbers could be better if we can get insurance groups together, thus my interest in the Alaska Crab Coalition. Nice round numbers though for a small policy. $1000 will buy $100,000 of accidental death and $2200 will buy $250,000 in coverage. It stays in force for a year so if you work more than one kind of season, you’re covered. It covers all accidents so if you’re a crab fisherman who also likes to guide grizzly bear hunts or a northeast long liner who gets caught in one of those roundabout things in Boston and never comes out, you’re covered.

Maybe not all fishing boats are as prosperous as those we see on TV, but it seems like for $1000 per hand a skipper might use that kind of thing to attract the best crew. Is $100,000 or even $250,000 going to solve all of the problems for a widow and children? Probably not. But maybe, just maybe it will make things a little easier. Already at sea and finding out how slick that deck is. If your wife has power of attorney she can put coverage in force for you.

Bottom line. Where there is responsibility there should be life insurance. If you’ve got a bride and/or children that are dependent on you and the lure of the big bucks is tugging at you, have a serious talk with yourself about mortality and the consequences. This is underwritten through Lloyds of London, the largest protector of shipping and fishing fleets in history, so they’ll be there for your family. If you have any questions or maybe know the governor of Alaska and can get him to respond, call or email me directly. Let’s talk.