Life Insurance for Pilots

Keith Lane

Keith Lane

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Keith Lane
My wife has convince me to purchase additional life insurance as we have seen a number of premature departures in the last two years, one of which left the family in a bad state. We have 7 and 10 year old kids and my wife is a stay at home/homeschooling Mom.

Here's my question.
I got a quote from AOPA Insurance for $500K for $129.50/mo for 20 years. Seems reasonable considering my company's agent quoted me $440/month :hairraise:for the same thing "'cuz you fly".
Recently, I got a flyer from Pilotinsurance.com for $500K for $73.64/Mo.
AOPA guarantees a level premium for 20 years, and PIC for the first 10 years. ( I think this is the gotcha)
AOPA is with Lincoln Benefit Life and PIC with Midland National Life Insurance.
I have ZILCH life insurance experience except what I have through work ($100K).
Any opinions out there?
 
I used PIC, and got a level premium for 20 years (was 33 at the time), 150/mo for 750,000 value. A little higher than originally planned due to my being overweight. I could probably qualify for a reduced premium today, but the higher age (41) may cancel out the better health.

My policy through PIC is with Lincoln Benefit, and I'm pleased with PIC's service.
 
Do either of them exclude or include recreational scuba diving?
 
Keith Lane said:
I don't know.
The application for AOPA did ask, however I have not been diving since diving was dangerous and sex was safe. Certified in 1972.
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Certified for which? :dunno::rofl::blowingkisses: And sex is safe only if so practiced!
 
I have an AOPA policy from the Minnesota life days. $30 a month for $250k, the only exclusions (IIRC) were experimentals and skydiving, but there may be others.

I was 21 at the time and overweight; which drove the premium up.

Cheers,

-Andrew
 
Keith:

Of course, you are talking to agents; not the insurers. Try to compare apples to apples: get the same quote for similar policy conditions. Hard to compare apples to oranges. Find out how the insurer is rated by AM Best. Premium is important, but more important is if the issuer is financially strong and able to pay when needed. You can also check for references and complaints. Agents should be able to show you the rating of the insurer.

Best,

Dave
 
The best premium and coverage for me came from AIG through PIC two years ago. I'm paying $158/quarter for $250k starting at age 45 for thirty years.
 
Glad to find this thread. I have had questions on this come up twice in the past week. "But my insurance company won't cover me" is one of the latest reasons I've heard why someone is unsure about learning to fly. Nice to know there are companies specializing in insuring pilots.

Newbie questions: Do most life insurance providers ask whether you are a pilot and then increase your premiums if you are? IOW how common is this?

Also, does this problem only come up if you are applying for a new policy, or are you supposed to dial your insurance company the minute you start lessons and advise them you're learning to fly?

(Again... total newbie here!)
 
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Kate, my experience with life insurance is limited to work coverage and the recent inquiries. Having said that, when I hired on 9 1/2 years ago, our company coverage was not impacted by my being a pilot. Now that I have asked our provider (here at work) about increasing the coverage fivefold, I got the $440/month figure. He told me that "after 911" all that changed, but that my premium rate from when I hired on was "locked". God knows we Cessna drivers are at a greater risk of expiring earlier since 9/11/01.
I don't know what my premiums would be it iI weren't "tainted" with a pilots certificate.
The short answer is yes, there are companies that will insure you as a pilot. If you ever are lonely, in need of constant e-mails and correspondence, just call and ask about getting coverage. I assure you, you'll not feel lonely again.:)
 
A number of years ago I bought a 30 year fixed rate term insurance policy thru Zurich Kemper (now Chase) that had no exclusions for general aviation pilots. After comparison shopping, I found quite a few companies that excluded GA pilots or added a hefty surcharge. ZK was the best rate at that time.
 
gkainz said:
A number of years ago I bought a 30 year fixed rate term insurance policy thru Zurich Kemper (now Chase) that had no exclusions for general aviation pilots. After comparison shopping, I found quite a few companies that excluded GA pilots or added a hefty surcharge. ZK was the best rate at that time.
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Greg, It is ZK with which my current work policy is bound, and them I believe that quoted the high price recently, so you are lucky to have gotten in when you did.
I do know that PIC and AOPA insurance seem to have a lot of concern about flying experimentals, though I do not know the exact restrictions placed on me regarding same. I hope it does not exclude me from ever riding in one as I have a friend with a really nice Glasair who has promised me a ride. The bottom line is that I have committed to get the coverage to maintain marital bliss. If I can't fly or ride in experimentals so be it.
 
I also bought insurance through PIC, do not recall the premium, but I think it was ten-year level term of $600-ish for $500k, also Lincoln Benefit Life. They were dramatically lower than the renewal premium I got from the carrier which underwrote the previous ten years (Old Colony Life, part of GE).

PIC was very helpful and cooperative.
 
I got a quote from Zander Insurance. They asked if I was a pilot. I said yes and they asked several more questions. Essentially they want to know what your ratings are and how much you fly. They told me that my insurance would be honored if I were to die in a plane crash.

I never officially went past quote stage, but if I do it'll likely be with Zander.
 
I suspect (fear) that in a lot of cases when you ask, "Does it matter if I'm a pilot?" and they answer "No problem." It means "No problem for us, because we don't cover you."
 
I too got my life insurance through PIC when I became a pilot. Ironically, I had insurance through Travelers beforehand, which they couldn't cancel on me, but I decided to shop around. It turned out that I got more coverage at a lower premium through PIC ~after~ becoming a pilot than I had before.
 
This is interesting, because I just got my life insurance renewed. Without going into a huge story, the insurance agent is a friend of ours sort of, through his wife who is a friend of my wife through her business. OK, so the agent is sitting in my kitchen renewing my insurance policy through age 109, and he says, "How's the flying going? I heard you got your license current again." I said that it was going well, and then I asked him if it was going to have any affect on my rates. He says, "Nah, there's a lot of people who fly, we're more worried about your general health, than what you do for fun."
 
Language excluding coverage if you die while travelling other than on scheduled or charter air transport is pretty standard these days, and quite a few brokers I've talked to weren't even aware of it. So be sure to ask for the actual policy language of the policy you are considering before you buy.
 
I got $500K for $149/quarter, 20-year level term, through Byron Udell (a broker). Policy is with Prudential. Covers me when flying...

My policy through work covers me, too (Minnesota Life is the underwriter), but I keep the Prudential policy in effect so I have coverage NOT tied to my employment.
 
Being a pilot has not been an issue for me in obtaining any kind of insurance including life but it has involved providing copies of records of training (IFR is a big plus for them) and certificates of FAA Safety Awards such as the Wings Program or state awards generate are just what they want to see to avoid higher rates. A history of accident free flying, of course.
 
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Wipes out most of my insurance. Old policies I bought in the mid 1970s have the exclusion. Didn't matter then, I didn't fly. Company paid life insurance is OK for the base insurance, but the ADD stuff is toast. Guess I'll just have to fly carefully. :yes:
 
Ghery said:
Wipes out most of my insurance. Old policies I bought in the mid 1970s have the exclusion. Didn't matter then, I didn't fly. Company paid life insurance is OK for the base insurance, but the ADD stuff is toast. Guess I'll just have to fly carefully. :yes:
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A lot of policies, if you weren't flying or a pilot when you bought them, then you're still covered if you take up the activity later on. The policy must be carefully read.
 
Dave Krall CFII said:
A lot of policies, if you weren't flying or a pilot when you bought them, then you're still covered if you take up the activity later on. The policy must be carefully read.
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In my case, on the previous pre-pilot policy, there was a time requirement between when I said I didn't fly and when I finally started flying--I think it was 2 years.
 
Well, this thread scared me into calling my insurance company to see whether I'd be covered. I have a $100k death benefit and I pay $40.96/mo. They told me that since I got my license after the two-year contestation period, that they cannot deny my death benefit if I were to die while piloting (or acting as a crew member of) an airplane. However, if I had the additional Accidental Death benefit, that would not cover piloting an aircraft. I don't have the AD benefit, so not a worry. It is comforting to know that no matter how I shuffle off the mortal coil, I still have the $100k benefit.
 
No life insurance here.

Worst comes to worst, the dog is homeless, and that's about it.

~ Christopher
 
t0r0nad0 said:
Well, this thread scared me into calling my insurance company to see whether I'd be covered. I have a $100k death benefit and I pay $40.96/mo. They told me that since I got my license after the two-year contestation period, that they cannot deny my death benefit if I were to die while piloting (or acting as a crew member of) an airplane. However, if I had the additional Accidental Death benefit, that would not cover piloting an aircraft. I don't have the AD benefit, so not a worry. It is comforting to know that no matter how I shuffle off the mortal coil, I still have the $100k benefit.
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It got me thinking too, so I called my agent to see if I was covered if I died while traveling other than on scheduled or charter air transport. My agent assured me that I was covered regardless of how I was traveling. He said that about the only thing that would invalidate my policy was suicide.
 
Maxmosbey said:
It got me thinking too, so I called my agent to see if I was covered if I died while traveling other than on scheduled or charter air transport. My agent assured me that I was covered regardless of how I was traveling. He said that about the only thing that would invalidate my policy was suicide.
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Some would claim a CFI getting into an airplane with a new primary student is a suicide attempt. :)
 
KennyFlys said:
Some would claim a CFI getting into an airplane with a new primary student is a suicide attempt. :)
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Oh man.

I had my very first zero time student not too long ago.

I think I was a nervous as he was (although obviously I was much too cool to show it).

~ Christopher
 
From our conversations, it appears to me that my agent does not consider flying your own airplane that risky of a business. Thinking about it, you need a minimum of 40 some hours of training to get a private pilot license, you need ground school, you need a medical to make sure you are healthy, you need a checkride, and then you need to be reviewed every two years to make sure that you are proficient. Speaking of that, there are minimum standards that you need to maintain every 90 days if you want to continue to fly. Add to that, that the FAA is out there waiting to jerk your license the first time you screw up. With all of that, why do we think that flying is such a dangerous pass time? Name another activity that has that kind of requirements to participate in.
 
Chances are there won't be much butt left to bury.

It'll probably be barbecued, just slap some sauce on, and you've got food covered for the memorial (assuming there even is one).

~ Christopher
 
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