Fighting to Ease Insurance Rates: WE NEED YOUR HELP & INPUT!

DEMA continues to work with Members of Congress and their staff to provide business operators with much needed insurance premium relief, BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP. 

As first reported last year, new and expanded liability requirements included in the Small Passenger Vessel Act (SPVA) are resulting in dramatic insurance spikes for operators around the country. The SPVA was touted as legislation to prevent future liveaboard tragedies. Instead, the final law did not include any safety provisions and instead, only expanded liability requirements for a subset of small passenger vessel operators. Sport fishing and cruise lines were exempted, and we understand day-boat operators and stores that charter boats or arrange boat travel are getting hit with significant insurance increases as well.

Considering feedback from our membership, DEMA engaged with insurance actuaries to develop compromise language for the SPVA. DEMA is working with leaders in both political parties to include the fix in “must pass” legislation. 

BUT WE NEED YOUR INPUT TO HELP FIGHT THIS! Please continue to share your own stories with us as you renew your insurance. We need to share this impact now so that we can leverage this information to help Congress understand the real-world impacts of their policy decisions on diving businesses in Washington, DC. If we do not share our stories, Congress will assume there is no impact in their local communities.

👉 Please share your business stories here. Your experience will be shared with policymakers and will help DEMA make a difference!