Insurance documents are written by lawyers for other lawyers. You are on holiday. So here is the entire subject in one page, in plain language, with the parts we take off your hands clearly marked.
One sentence of context before the steps: you have already paid for this cover. Using it properly costs nothing extra — and most of the money travellers lose is lost to a missed phone call or a missing receipt, not to a refused policy.
The whole thing in three steps
- Before you fly: spend ten minutes on the four checks below, and save two numbers in your phone.
- If something happens: tell the guide, call your insurer's emergency line, and let a doctor look at you the same day.
- Afterwards: ask us for the documents. We send them the same day, free.
That is it. Everything below is detail you can read now or come back to.
Before you fly: four checks, ten minutes
- Does your policy cover diving, and to what depth? Most cover recreational diving to 30 metres with a guide. Look under "sports and activities".
- Are chamber treatment and repatriation included? These are the expensive lines. If they are not named, ask the insurer by email and keep the reply.
- Did you declare your medical history honestly? An undeclared condition is the most common reason a claim fails.
- Save two things on paper as well as on your phone: the 24-hour emergency number and your policy number. Photograph both and email them to yourself.
If any answer is unclear, send us the policy before you travel and we will tell you which questions to ask your insurer. We will not tell you what your policy covers — only your insurer can — but we can point at the parts that matter for diving.
If something happens: the first hour
- Tell the guide or the centre immediately. This starts everything else, and it is what puts an incident report in writing while the details are fresh.
- Call your insurer's emergency number before treatment starts, if you can. This is the single step that decides whether you pay and reclaim, or the insurer settles with the hospital directly.
- See a doctor the same day. Not tomorrow, not after the flight.
- Keep every piece of paper, including taxi receipts.
- Message us. We will point you at the right facility, come with the language, and start preparing your documents.
Who does what
| You | Us |
|---|---|
| Call the insurer and give the policy number | Direct you to the nearest appropriate pharmacy, clinic or hospital |
| Let a doctor examine you and follow the advice | Help with Arabic and with getting there |
| Keep receipts and the medical report | Produce the booking confirmation and invoice |
| Send the claim to your insurer | Produce the dive profile and the operator incident report |
| Ask the doctor for the report in English | Send everything to you the same day, at no charge |
Getting the most out of a policy you already paid for
None of this is about claiming more. It is about not losing what is already yours:
- Call first, treat second. Most policies require notification, and many arrange direct settlement so you never pay up front.
- Ask for an itemised invoice, not a total. Insurers reject lump sums far more often than line items.
- Ask for the medical report in English while you are still at the clinic. Getting it later, from another country, is slow.
- Report on the day it happens. Late notification is a common reason for reduced settlements.
- Do not fly home first and claim later for anything that might be diving-related — it is worse for your health and worse for your claim.
- Keep the trip documents. Insurers want proof of what you booked, with whom, and that the operator was licensed. That part is ours to give you.
What we do not do
Being clear about this is part of the service:
- We do not decide what your policy covers, and we never promise that something will be paid. Your insurer decides.
- We do not provide medical care and we do not influence it. The treating doctor makes every clinical decision.
- We do not bill your insurer, and we are not paid a commission by any clinic or hospital for sending you there.
- We do not need your medical details. Send us the booking reference; the medical side stays between you and your doctor.
What to send us
To open a file, four short things are enough:
- Your booking reference.
- The date of the trip and roughly what happened.
- Where you are now — hotel, clinic or already home.
- An email address to send the documents to.
Send it through the contact form or on WhatsApp. Same-day reply during working hours, and the documents follow in the same message.
Do I need special diving insurance?
Not necessarily. If your existing travel policy covers recreational diving to the depth you plan, with a guide, and names chamber treatment and repatriation, that is usually enough for a normal week of reef diving. A dedicated diving policy is worth considering if you dive deep, dive often, are doing a professional course, or your policy excludes the sport. Compare what you already hold before buying a second one — the detail is in our full guide to diving and travel insurance.
What if I have no insurance at all?
Then dive more conservatively than usual, and know that private treatment in Egypt is paid at the point of care. It is not the disaster people imagine for small things — a pharmacy visit or a clinic consultation is inexpensive — but a diving injury needing a chamber and a flight home is exactly the scenario insurance exists for. If you are already here without cover, some insurers still sell policies after departure, though usually with a waiting period and no cover for anything that has already happened. Ask before you assume.
Book the dive; leave the admin to us
The paperwork side of a holiday should not be your problem, and with us it mostly is not. Browse dives, courses and snorkelling days with free cancellation up to 48 hours before departure, read the site briefings so you pick a day that suits your level, and keep the two numbers in your pocket.
Ninety-nine weeks out of a hundred, none of this matters. The hundredth is why you read it.
