Insurance

[brien23]

If your insurance policy is based on you with 5,000 hours and you have a PA28R and loan it to your buddy PPL with minimum requirements of the policy who hurts someone in it, how much is your buddy covered, or should he have gotten non owners insurance.

 

[wrbix]

Check your policy, of course, but my policy has equal coverage for a similarly rated pilot to whom I give permission to fly.
The only non-owner policies I've ever heard of cover you in plane(s) you do not own - i.e. Rentals.

 

[brien23]

It was the AOPA article on insurance denied that got me thinking about the important note:" if you lend your airplane to another pilot, your policy is designed to protect you--it will do nothing to protect your friend--they should highly consider renters/non-owner’s coverage."

 

[wrbix]

Ah, yeah - suspect liability would be on your friend.

 

[Ravioli]

Shouldn't this be described in the "open pilot" provisions of the policy?

 

[brien23]

Shouldn't this be described in the "open pilot" provisions of the policy?

Read the Open Pilot Warranty language carefully - it’s typically short, being only a sentence or two and could read as simple as “Any Private Pilot,” but read it and know who you are lending the keys to. And an important note: if you lend your airplane to another pilot, your policy is designed to protect you--it will do nothing to protect your friend--they should highly consider renters/non-owner’s coverage.

 

[FlySince9]

Renter.s insurance (in my experience) is well worth the cost associated with a policy with normal limits and coverage...

 

[midlifeflyer]

It was the AOPA article on insurance denied that got me thinking about the important note:" if you lend your airplane to another pilot, your policy is designed to protect you--it will do nothing to protect your friend--they should highly consider renters/non-owner’s coverage."

That's generally the case. Unlike car insurance which is heavily regulated, aviation policies can be all over the place, especially in terminology.

If you read the typical Open Pilot Warranty, it is a warranty from you to the insurer, in which you promise you won't; let someone with less than certain minimum hours fly your airplane. Breach your promise and the company can deny coverage to you if something bad happens when that someone is flying.

If you read who is "an insured pilot " in the typical policy, it will sound like qualifying pilots who fly the airplane with your permission are protected. Not really. Damages to third parties are covered, but the pilot may be responsible for paying the insurance company back.

There's no way to know what the policy says or means without someone who understands them reading it.

 

[jesse]

Your buddy needs non-owner insurance because of the following:

- if your buddy crashes your airplane, the insurance company will pay you for it, however they may sue him for their loss.

- if your buddy taxies the airplane into a jet, the insurance company will pay you for the damage to your airplane, and will defend/pay claims against you by the jet owner. However your buddy could technically be sued by both your insurance company and the owner of the jet.

If your buddy has zero dollars to his name and will never have income of substance then he probably doesn’t need non-owner insurance. However if he has assets he’s taking on a significant liability by operating your airplane and is literally risking all of his assets.

 

[brien23]

If you are not the owner but your friend has you named on the policy do you have the same coverage as he does.

 

[bluesideup]

Hi everyone.
Would added "As another Pilot" solve any of these issues?

 

[midlifeflyer]

If you are not the owner but your friend has you named on the policy do you have the same coverage as he does.

Hi everyone.
Would added "As another Pilot" solve any of these issues?

Maybe. Maybe not. It depends what your policy says says. Period.

In many policies, the benefits and protection a "named pilot" or an "approved pilot" is no different than one meeting the open pilot warranty. It's really just another way of saying, "this pilot can fly the airplane without voiding coverage.' What's the difference, then? Well, an "open pilot" needs to meed the open pilot warranty; a "named" or "approved" pilot does not. For example, I have been a "named" or "approved" pilot in airplanes where I done' come close to meeting the open pilot warranty. But the insurance company approved me individually based on an application.

Point is, neither guarantees the "named" "open" or "approved" pilot is protected. As I explained before, that pilot may be an "insured" when it comes to claims by third parties, but may be on the hook to the insurer if there is a payout. If you've heard the term "subrogation," that's pretty much what it is - the right of an insurer which pays a claim to get it back from the person who caused the damage, unless the insurance company agrees not to. The owner(s) of the policy are protected; others might or might not be.

On those policies where I am "named" or "approved" I always assume it does not protect me. So I carry non-owned insurance with a CFI liability rider.

Edit: to learn more about this stuff, try searching aviation insurance subrogation in Google. There are a couple of decent articles some insurance brokers put out there to explain what is a pretty complex subject.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

A "named insured" has the same coverage as the policyowner, and will be copied on all bills, endosements and any other paperwork having to do with the policy. A named pilot may or may not be a named insured, depending on the policy language. An open pilot warrantee etc. provides cover to the policyowner in the event the non-owner PIC has an incident or accident, but does not necessarily provide cover for the PIC. Most owner policies provide cover for rented or borrowed aircraft as well, up to the policy limit, so if the person you're lending to has an airplane of their own of comparable value, have them check their own policy.

CfI giving instruction is a commercial operation, so that's another matter entirely.