Insurance and BasicMed

Cruiser

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I am curious now that BasicMed is six months old and thousands of pilots have completed this process are there any experiences with insurance companies and claims ?

Does anyone know of an insurance claim that ran into difficulty because the pilot was using BasicMed ?
 
Is BasicMed a step up for Light Sport pilots (who have PPL with no current medical) but a step down for PPL pilots with medical going to BasicMed?

I doubt either one will see a change in insurance, unless, of course, they change what they are flying.
 
Is BasicMed a step up for Light Sport pilots (who have PPL with no current medical) but a step down for PPL pilots with medical going to BasicMed?

I doubt either one will see a change in insurance, unless, of course, they change what they are flying.
BasicMed confers no additional privileges for sport pilots. It's a step down for private pilots because they can only fly below 18,000 MSL, they can't fly aircraft that are certificated for more than six seats or greater than 6000 pounds gross weight, and they can't fly in foreign countries unless those countries have opted for it. (So far, only the Bahamas have opted to allow it.) I don't guarantee that I have remembered all the limitations exactly, but that's the gist of it.
 
Not Basicmed, but I'm a private with long expired medical exercising Sport Pilot privileges. Had an accident recently, Avemco paid no questions asked, though they did ask for a copy of my drivers license as well as my pilot certificate. But they already knew since one of the questions on the insurance application is "date of last medical."
 
BasicMed confers no additional privileges for sport pilots.

Sport Pilots are limited to daytime flying, ground contact, under 10,000 feet, in two seat planes that must have max gross under 1320 pounds and max cruise speed of 132.

BasicMed let's them fly higher, faster, at night, above clouds in heavier aircraft with more seats.
 
Sport Pilots are limited to daytime flying, ground contact, under 10,000 feet, in two seat planes that must have max gross under 1320 pounds and max cruise speed of 132.

BasicMed let's them fly higher, faster, at night, above clouds in heavier aircraft with more seats.
Having a medical (basic or for real FAA) does not change the limits for a Sport Pilot.
Plus, you can't do the basic med thing unless you already have a recent medical which rules out most actual Sport Pilots and most Private Pilots operating under the Sport Pilot rules.
 
Policies are different and check yours, but most have something similar to a requirement that the pilot in command "has a current and effective medical certificate if a medical certificate is required by the FAA for the Pilot Certificate privileges being exercised." (That's language from a real policy, with my emphasis)

There was some of the usual talk about insurance companies refusing to issue policies and coverage for BasicMed, as there was similar talk about insurance for SportPilots which, like most of the talk about all the other reasons BasicMed had no chance of working, didn't happen.
 
Sport Pilots are limited to daytime flying, ground contact, under 10,000 feet, in two seat planes that must have max gross under 1320 pounds and max cruise speed of 132.

BasicMed let's them fly higher, faster, at night, above clouds in heavier aircraft with more seats.
That's true for a holder of a private or higher pilot certificate who was exercising sport pilot privileges (e.g., me) but not for a holder of a sport pilot certificate.
 
Having a medical (basic or for real FAA) does not change the limits for a Sport Pilot.
Plus, you can't do the basic med thing unless you already have a recent medical which rules out most actual Sport Pilots and most Private Pilots operating under the Sport Pilot rules.

Quite a few Sport Pilots were PPL pilots who skipped the PPL medical but are now going BasicMed. So long as the had a medical within 10 years of the date the law passed, they are good to go for the BasicMed and many have. I did.

"Recent" ? Sometime in July 2006.

It's interesting that the medical has to have been within 10 years since the law passed -- not within the past 10 years. So a PPL who had gone Light Sport or quit flying entirely but had a medical in 2007 could wait until 2030 or even later and still get BasicMed.
 
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Quite a few Sport Pilots were PPL pilots who skipped the PPL medical but are now going BasicMed....
A private or higher certificate holder who is exercising sport pilot privileges is not a sport pilot. It's an important distinction because the regulations regarding required endorsements are different.
 
A PPL who was exercising the sport pilot priveleges could not fly above clouds or at night. If he goes BasicMed and flies without ground contact or at night is that a more risky action from the insurance point of view?

I don't think logic or hypothetical questions matter to insurance providers -- they use statistics based on actual insurance claims. As data accumulates, they'll adjust rates.

For now, I don't think it will matter.
 
Quite a few Sport Pilots were PPL pilots who skipped the PPL medical but are now going BasicMed. So long as the had a medical within 10 years of the date the law passed, they are good to go for the BasicMed and many have. I did.

"Recent" ? Sometime in July 2006.

It's interesting that the medical has to have been within 10 years since the law passed -- not within the past 10 years. So a PPL who had gone Light Sport or quit flying entirely but had a medical in 2007 could wait until 2030 or even later and still get BasicMed.
A what?

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My co-owner is flying now under BasicMed. We specifically asked our insurance agent if that changed anything. They said no. Rates actually went down again this year.

Can’t give any insight into claims though, as we’ve never had one.
 
My co-owner is flying now under BasicMed. We specifically asked our insurance agent if that changed anything. They said no. Rates actually went down again this year.

Can’t give any insight into claims though, as we’ve never had one.

Same here. Asked aircraft insurance agent, prior to completing the BasicMed forms,they said nothing changes.
 
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