Flight School’s Insurance Doesn’t Really Cover Pilots

[-]

StefanAdams@reddit

Pretty standard for flight schools. My school required proof of renter's insurance coverage before you could get on the schedule.

[-]

tabasco44@reddit

Just don’t crash… /s

I know my renters insurance for a few extra bucks has a deductible reimbursement. I think it has options up to $10K that they’d cover if the flight school has to use their deductible.

Shop around for different insurance companies. Some will offer higher coverage and other extras like that deductible reimbursement. But unfortunately the reality is it’s just not cheap.

[-]

That is typical. The main reason the school has insurance is to protect the owner's (or lender's) interest in the aircraft and the secondarily some of their liability. In 30 years of renting aircraft, only a very few flying clubs actually purchased insurance that protected the renters. In fact, toward the end of my stint as an aircraft lessor, it was very difficult to get such coverage (waiver of subrogation, breach of warranty). Even when we had it, the renter was still on the hook for the deductible.

[-]

SATSewerTube@reddit

Get non-owners insurance.

[-]

helm8501@reddit (OP)

Thats what I currently have but with coverage up to $25k. Bit of a shocker realizing I may want increase to $250k, and given that it’s not really an option anywhere.

[-]

StPauliBoi@reddit

Insurance is one of the things definitely not to cheap out on. When renting, I carry enough to buy a whole new plane if something happened while I’m renting it.

[-]

Far-Measurement8991@reddit

The flight schools and clubs that I’m familiar with require renters insurance with a minimum limit of $250k liability and $5k in physical damage coverage, with the school’s/club’s policy primary for the hull value of the aircraft itself. The goal of renters insurance is to place the burden of small claims on the students/renters, rather than driving up the club or school’s loss ratio (thereby keeping the larger fleet policy more affordable). Because a renters policy is supplemental I can’t imagine any carrier that would offer a policy with full hull value coverage.

I haven’t run into a situation where renters are bearing the burden of insuring the hull value of an aircraft that they don’t own (that’s typically the responsibility of the aircraft owner in a leaseback situation, or the club itself). I’d be really curious what kind of insurance policy the club holds in this scenario, and would request a copy of their declarations page or a To Whom It May Concern COI to see how they’re covered.

[-]

NYPuppers@reddit

Eh it’s not really notable. Even if the school DID have insurance, there is nothing stopping them from coming after you if you make a mistake, or their insurance coming after you. Which they will each do because the flight school does not want to make a claim that will raise their rates, and the schools insurer doesn’t want to pay it, and the student doesn’t want to be in bad standing with the school.

Anyways. Get good renters insurance and assume it is all that is covering you.

[-]

helm8501@reddit (OP)

It leads me to wonder how others get coverage for higher hull valued aircraft? Coverage for this is top of the offering with non-owned renters insurance.

[-]

NYPuppers@reddit

I think for schools that train in cirrus and other expensive aircraft it is built into the 450 an hour rate and they don’t require or expect separate renters insurance. You’re covered by the schools policies. But obviously always check before you rent.

If you are training on cheap 152s and beat up 172s the school is probably trying to keep that hourly cost low as possible and shifting as much of their insurance burden to the student.

[-]

mduell@reddit

That’s not uncommon, and yea it’s about $2k/yr for $200k hull for a renter.

[-]

BandicootOnly4598@reddit

Insurance is extremely variable, and some schools either have enough of a record that the insurance company won’t touch them, or with the rising cost of insurance they’ve opted for a more restrictive policy, dropping CFI coverage, dropping hull coverage, or dropping insurance entirely. Your mileage may vary, but the schools I’ve seen cutting costs from insurance are also cutting from maintenance etc.

[-]

BrtFrkwr@reddit

Find another flight school.

[-]

helm8501@reddit (OP)

Should’ve clarified, I rent from the school but am not a student. A club nearby has this same policy, seems as though this shouldn’t be common?

[-]

Pilot-Imperialis@reddit

I’m not hugely knowledgeable on it, but I have taught at various sized schools and can confirm you have better coverage with the larger establishments (in my experience). For example, a part 61 school I worked at couldn’t let me teach multi until I had 500 multi hours due to their insurance policy. The 141 school I teach at now goes purely by proficiency. If you’ve got the chops to teach multi (established by a series of checkouts), then their insurance will cover you. As a general rule they don’t give multi students to anyone with less than 100 dual given which is a fairly good policy honestly, but other than that, it’s not too bad.

[-]

rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

Recently my flight school let us know their insurance does not cover the deductible, or any coverage of an airplane incident/accident where the pilot is at fault. If the pilot is at fault, his renters insurance is the primary coverage for the hull value of the aircraft ($200k+).

Is this normal for flight schools? I can’t even get a renters policy that truly covers the hull value of the aircraft. It seems like you might as well just get ownership coverage (not that you could, and would be ridiculous to), in this scenario. The closet policies would cost at least $1,200 a year, while still not covering the entire hull value.

Please downvote this comment until it collapses.

Questions about this comment? Please see this wiki post before contacting the mods.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. If you have any questions, please contact the mods of this subreddit.