Non-owned CFI insurance

acropilot

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acropilot
Anyone have any suggestions as to the best non-owned CFI insurance? I have been browsing around for a little while and it's time to make a decision. Any 1st hand experience would be appreciated. Also, what liability level do most of you CFIs carry? Thanks.
 
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Anyone have any suggestions as to the best non-owned CFI insurance? I have been browsing around for a little while and it's time to make a decision. Any 1st hand experience would be appreciated. Also, what liability level do most of you CFIs carry? Thanks.
I'm carrying AVEMCO and up to $75K in hull. It's worth it.

Ryan
 
Anyone have any suggestions as to the best non-owned CFI insurance? I have been browsing around for a little while and it's time to make a decision. Any 1st hand experience would be appreciated. Also, what liability level do most of you CFIs carry? Thanks.

Before you buy anything, check the policy under which you will be operating. You may only need insurance to cover the deductible.
 
I am working as a sub-contractor to a flight school and a little free-lance as well, so I am looking for the best coverage for a slightly unusual situation.
 
Before you buy anything, check the policy under which you will be operating. You may only need insurance to cover the deductible.
Unless the instructor is an additional insured under a flight school policy (which s/he may not be if s/he is an independent contractor rather than an employee), that's not likely, and for instruction outside such a school policy, the instructor is probably not covered at all. While it may be possible for the instructor to be added as an insured (not a "named pilot") on the trainee's aircraft policy, many owners are reluctant to do that because it dilutes the owner's coverage. But even if you become a named insured on the owner's policy, that will not cover you for instructional liability if, say, the owner later has an accident and claims it was due to negligent training on your part. If nothing else, the "duty to defend" in such policies saves you the tens of thousands in legal defense costs you'd be socked with even if the plaintiff's case eventually is tossed or fails before a jury.
 
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I am working as a sub-contractor to a flight school and a little free-lance as well, so I am looking for the best coverage for a slightly unusual situation.
Then you want one of the CFI policies which include aircraft hull damage, third party liability, and instructional liability. AVEMCO offers such directly, and Falcon offers such through NAFI. Since I give several hundred hours of training to people in their own planes each year, I view my NAFI/Falcon policy as essential for my own protection, and it is also a deductible cost of doing business.
 
Then you want one of the CFI policies which include aircraft hull damage, third party liability, and instructional liability. AVEMCO offers such directly, and Falcon offers such through NAFI. Since I give several hundred hours of training to people in their own planes each year, I view my NAFI/Falcon policy as essential for my own protection, and it is also a deductible cost of doing business.

Thanks. I was thinking I would be best served long those lines.
 
What does that kind of insurance cost?
 
Then you want one of the CFI policies which include aircraft hull damage, third party liability, and instructional liability. AVEMCO offers such directly, and Falcon offers such through NAFI. Since I give several hundred hours of training to people in their own planes each year, I view my NAFI/Falcon policy as essential for my own protection, and it is also a deductible cost of doing business.
AVEMCO does not offer "instructional liability", more commonly referred to as "professional liability" coverage.
 
AVEMCO does not offer "instructional liability", more commonly referred to as "professional liability" coverage.
A lot of instructors had said they had the AVEMCO CFI policy, so I assumed it included instructional/professional liability. However, from AVEMCO's site:
Q: Does the Avemco CFI Non-Owned policy cover me for claims asserting that I did not instruct someone properly?
A: No. The Avemco policy is not intended to provide you with professional liability coverage. Coverage only applies when you are in the aircraft providing instruction.
So, I would recommend that any CFI's out there think twice before buying that policy as it is not as complete as I think a CFI policy should be, and I think that's a deal-breaker. OTOH, the NAFI/Falcon policy has that feature.
 
Thanks, everyone. One other question, what is a reasonable level of hull and liability coverage? (FYI: I am mainly instructing in decathlons, and other aerobatic aircraft, some are HP and complex as well).
 
That's a personal decision based on your assets. I'd echo Ron and go for 1M liability, and 75K hull. 75K will cover a fair amount of damage assuming you don't destroy an airplane.
 
Then you want one of the CFI policies which include aircraft hull damage, third party liability, and instructional liability. AVEMCO offers such directly, and Falcon offers such through NAFI. Since I give several hundred hours of training to people in their own planes each year, I view my NAFI/Falcon policy as essential for my own protection, and it is also a deductible cost of doing business.

I think the NAFI Falcon partnership is no more. NAFI now pushes AVEMCO on their site and the NAFI application on the Falcon website is a broken link.

The new AVEMCO NAFI policy is much better. Enough to make me join NAFI. I just bought an AVEMCO/NAFI policy 500k liability and $80,000 hull that includes:

Single-engine Land and Light Sport
Multi-engine Land
Seaplane
Amateur Built including Experimental Light Sport

http://www.avemco.com/NAFI/Features.aspx
 
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I think the NAFI Falcon partnership is no more. NAFI now pushes AVEMCO on their site and the NAFI application on the Falcon website is a broken link.

The new AVEMCO NAFI policy is much better. Enough to make me join NAFI. I just bought an AVEMCO/NAFI policy 500k liability and $80,000 hull that includes:

Single-engine Land and Light Sport
Multi-engine Land
Seaplane
Amateur Built including Experimental Light Sport

http://www.avemco.com/NAFI/Features.aspx
Seems that contrary to the discussion above, AVEMCO has added instructional liability.
 
Seems that contrary to the discussion above, AVEMCO has added instructional liability.

*Only* on that NAFI version of their policy. You'd be a fool not to join NAFI and get the NAFI version as the regular version doesn't offer half of what the NAFI one does.
 
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