Category Archives: pilot age

In these economically challenging times, insurance is often one of the first things that aircraft owners cut from their budget. Many owners feel that they can’t afford insurance, hangar AND fuel, so something has to go. That is very understandable.

But before you eliminate all the coverage, take a look at what you have and see if there are changes that can be made to the limits or the types of coverage. Like any other investments review what you have and check on alternatives so you do not lose all the value in the worst case scenario.

Many owners believe that if they crash the plane they will probably be gone anyway and they don’t need to worry about the value of the plane. But take a look at the accident statistics, in reality, general aviation is very safe and there are very few fatalities. (Even if there is a worse case situation, the estate will be out the value of the plane if it is uninsured.)

So that means the majority of accidents cause damage to the plane and even surrounding property but not fatalities. If it took years to build the aircraft, why take the risk of losing that investment? At least in the event of a loss if you have insurance you are allowing the insurance company to share part of the risk and help rebuild or replace the plane.

Most owners also think that “it won’t happen to them” and that might be the case, but are you willing to take that risk? If you are a gambler and willing to risk the value of your plane and can afford the loss, go for it.

Also if your age is in the sixties or even seventies, many insurance underwriters will not insure you as new business, especially in high performance aircraft. If you cut coverage this year expecting to get coverage back in five or six months, it might not happen. So it’s best to keep some sort of coverage in effect.

If you do not have a loan, look into reducing the coverage to something like liability only. If the aircraft is not financed, you could get rid of the hull coverage and at least keep liability coverage in effect. Liability is usually the lowest cost portion of a policy and usually what is required by an airport or state.

If you are in the older age group, this would keep the aircraft insured so you would not be a “new” risk. You could always look into adding hull coverage at a future date. At least you would be insured by a company which would make it easier to get additional coverage.

Ground not in motion hull coverage might also be an option. This type of coverage would protect the hull when it was not under its own power from things like fire, theft and storms. These are things that the owner tries to protect the plane from but is often out of the owner’s control.

What ever your decision, check out the options before you cancel all the coverage.