Insurance Matters - Some Practical Advice on Aircraft Insurance

Owning your own aircraft comes with some amazing benefits, but also some risks. We always advise our clients to ensure that they have adequate insurance to cover any unforeseen circumstances. We offer a competitive, efficient and effective insurance service that COMPARES insurance quotes and gets you the BEST market rate! Simply go to OTHER SERVICES >> INSURANCE on the LAS website (or click the link below).

Are you adequately covered!?

Not all insurance is the same. There are two major components: hull value (the value of the insured aircraft in the event of a write-off) and public liability (the risk covered for damage to others and their property). Both are very important in aviation because of the ease in which a claim can occur (and a write-off can happen), and the damage to parties and property that can occur as a result of an accident (think hangar doors, gardens, airport infrastructure, other aircraft including jets and helicopters, crops, fences, personal injury, medical bills... we need not go on).

Here's our top 3 insurance tips (and MYTHS!):

1. Often misunderstood FACT: You cannot insure an aircraft that you do not own! It seems obvious but many of our clients have accidentally fallen into this little trap. When transferring ownership, the seller is NOT able to cover any activity that follows the legal transfer of the asset. That is to say, if you don't own it, you cannot rely on an insurance payout on that asset, if it is taken out by another party.

In the same way, while a Buyer can take out insurance for an aircraft that is owned by the Seller, any claim is unlikely to be paid out if that's the policy being relied upon. Whether insurance is valid relates closely to the moment that risk and title transfers and it MUST be clearly defined by a contract (or by agreement between the parties). Be especially careful if the Seller is ferrying the aircraft to you as part of the purchase! You need to be clear about who actually owns the aircraft for the ferry! Call us for any FREE advice here, or apply for a free insurance quotation.

2. RAAus insurance - the MYTH: RAAus public liability insurance is adequate in all circumstances. No. It's absolutely not! While RAAus markets their public liability insurance as covering their members, the cover is HIGHLY LIMITED by value (only $250,000 for passengers). It's a 'nice to have policy' that helps the members, but it is not often adequate to cover the risk against passenger injury! Again please call us for advice, or request a quote, and our team will call you back and advise you properly.

3. Agreed value - the MYTH: Increasing insured hull value massively hikes the premium: No! It doesn't! Once of the best things about aircraft insurance is your ability to choose your hull value. But increasing this value does not hike premiums disproportionately. If you have an aircraft 'worth', say $100,000, and you insure it for $100,000, any increase to an insured hull value of $130,000 (for example) will only usually add a few hundred dollars to the yearly premium! Try it out and see for yourself by filling in our insurance request form and comparing quotes. It's so much better to know that you are covered and well worth the 'few hundred' extra to know that you'll get $30,000 more if it's a write-off! Don't you agree?

So, the take-out is always slightly OVER-INSURE because if you write an aircraft off (it's VERY easy to do!), you are covered by that AGREED hull value. Values also fluctuate, and kicking yourself after you write your aircraft off is one of the worst feelings in aviation (up there with 'oops, those damn wheels')!

Click on ‘INSURANCE’ on our website and get pro-active about your insurance today!