Renters insurance?

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HouTxPilot82

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HouTxPilot82
The flight school where I did all my training and still rent aircraft from whenever I want to fly has a requirement for Renters insurance when you're not with a CFI. I signed up for a yearly policy through the AOPA website on the day of my first solo last year in July, while still obviously a student pilot. It was $261 for a year long policy with coverage limits of 250/25/10.

I just received an email renewal for the next year which quotes $236. Are these the standard going rates? Taking a quick look through the policy there is an assumption made that I have a private pilot rating (which I do), but since I haven't reapplied myself providing any updates on my ratings, flight hours, etc.... I was wondering what factored into this rate, and if this is decent coverage for the rate or not.

I'd love to hear any input from others on what they are paying, if I should look at any other specific insurance providers, etc.

Thanks.
 
Last time I purchased renters for aircraft usage was 3 years ago and it was about $200/yr -ish. Also purchased through AOPA. So I think you're getting a decent price.
 
The price you're getting is fine. Regarding non-owned insurance, there isn't much leeway in the way of discounts for extra ratings and hours. The premiums are mostly based on coverage amounts (hull/etc) and have little to do with pilot stats. Usually, the non-owned policies are not meant to cover the value of the aircraft, just the deductible for the rental company's insurance policy.
 
Thanks for the reminder. Just did 500/50/10 with AOPA for $275/yr.
 
I required students to pick up a renters policy before solo with my old school too.

We would steer our guys towards AVEMCO though, just a better product IMO.

200ish a year is a little low for only 10k, we were right around the same price for 20 or 25k as I recall.
 
HouTxPilot82 said:
The flight school where I did all my training and still rent aircraft from whenever I want to fly has a requirement for Renters insurance when you're not with a CFI. I signed up for a yearly policy through the AOPA website on the day of my first solo last year in July, while still obviously a student pilot. It was $261 for a year long policy with coverage limits of 250/25/10.

I just received an email renewal for the next year which quotes $236. Are these the standard going rates? Taking a quick look through the policy there is an assumption made that I have a private pilot rating (which I do), but since I haven't reapplied myself providing any updates on my ratings, flight hours, etc.... I was wondering what factored into this rate, and if this is decent coverage for the rate or not.

I'd love to hear any input from others on what they are paying, if I should look at any other specific insurance providers, etc.

Thanks.
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Sorry to resurrect an old thread here, but what do the numbers "250/25/10" mean here?

Also, when I look at a renters insurance policy, I see there is 1) "bodily injury and property damage coverage", and then there is the 2) "liability coverage for damage to non-owned aircraft".

If I understand that right, 1) covers what I break when I crash, and 2) covers the airplane that I crash.

When most of you get coverage, are you getting the liability coverage? Is that what I should be worried about the most? I have been renting without any insurance, and I am worried that I am exposing myself to some risk that I don't really want to take.
 
Read the policy carefully. I'm pretty sure It covers your negligence and generally the owner's deductible. If you break something and you weren't negligent you might not be covered.
 
If the plane screws up it doesn't cover it, if you screw the plane up it covers it. Or at least the ones I've seen.
 
James331 said:
If the plane screws up it doesn't cover it, if you screw the plane up it covers it. Or at least the ones I've seen.
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That sounds about right.

I think the numbers of 250/25/10 are for liability (damage to what you crash into, not the airplane). $250k, $25k medical for pax, and $10k max each pax. Something like that.
 
Read the renter's agreement you have with the FBO too. Make sure they aren't saying YOU are liable for ALL damage to the rented aircraft. The owner of the rental aircraft (frequently NOT the FBO) usually has insurance that covers most of the possible damages. Renters insurance is "gap" insurance in case the owners insurance company comes after you (unlikely if you dont have insurance BTW).
 
coloradobluesky said:
Read the renter's agreement you have with the FBO too. Make sure they aren't saying YOU are liable for ALL damage to the rented aircraft. The owner of the rental aircraft (frequently NOT the FBO) usually has insurance that covers most of the possible damages. Renters insurance is "gap" insurance in case the owners insurance company comes after you (unlikely if you dont have insurance BTW).
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My FBO has an insurance policy that covers THEIR liability. They specifically say that the insurance company may come sue me if I crash the airplane though. They strongly recommend that renters get insurance. I looked at the details on the renters insurance policies from AOPA and AVEMCO. The passenger liability coverage seems cheap ($205 per year for $1Million/$1Million/$100k), but the aircraft liability damage coverage is more expensive ($415 per year for $40k).

I guess the way I am looking at this is that the scenario I am most worried about is that I botch the landing and shoot the nose wheel up into the engine, or do something stupid on the ramp and hit another airplane with the wing. In that case, if I don't have the aircraft liability damage coverage I am likely getting sued for the cost to total a C172.
 
The owners insurance should cover damage of the plane due to an accident or an act of God, most without regard to fault. If the airplane breaks, if it hits an animal on the runway, if it gets hail damage sitting on the ramp, regardless of fault up to a point. There may be some deductibles. The owners insurance may come after the FBO (for a maintenance item left out for example) or the pilot of the airplane (for a mistake he made). If they are successful, they might get a judgement against the pilot (or the instructor). In that case, renters insurance MIGHT pay. But it wont pay for all the damage to the airplane for every accident. That is the owners insurance companies responsibility you see.

But some renters of aircraft dont carry owners insurance or even if they do they put a clause in the rental contract that says the renter is responsible regardless.

READ YOUR RENTERS AGREEMENT! Make sure you dont have one of those clauses.
 
I called AOPO this week to check on renters insurance, they quoted $414 for 250/25/30. Reading through the posts it seems that quote is high.

Thoughts?
 
ginn68 said:
I called AOPO this week to check on renters insurance, they quoted $414 for 250/25/30. Reading through the posts it seems that quote is high.

Thoughts?
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Here's how the breakdown is for me:

Aircraft Liability $250,000 each occurrence bodily injury and property damage limited to
$25,000 each passenger
Aircraft Physical Damage $10,000 each occurrence



Total Premium is $222/yr


The fact that your hull coverage is $30K versus my $10K is what makes your quote more expensive. The liability coverage can be increased fairly cheaply, the aircraft physical damage is where it goes up fast.
 
I pay close to $700 a year. That is for 1,000,000/100,000/100,000 liability coverage. I also have 50K in hull about the value of the 172M I fly.

If you wreck the owners plane his insurance company is likely going to come after you to pay for it.

Personally I like to have full hull coverage as the last thing I want to think about if I get in a bind is how am I going to pay for this mess.
 
Avemco had better pricing than AOPA when I looked. Also, $10k in aircraft coverage is not very much. I was paying around $600 a year with $70k of insurance. I used that for a citabria. No additional premium for tailwheel coverage.
 
Wow, you guys pay a ton for renter's insurance...I opted to add a few extras in, but the flight school I used to rent from only requires the policy to cover the deductible, which I think is $5000.

So if you have $5000 aircraft damage liability that's all you need.
 
Anyone have any luck getting a monthly policy as opposed to a year policy? I am trying to get my ATP in about a week timeframe so I would only need the insurance for a month max instead of a whole year.
 
Caramon13 said:
Wow, you guys pay a ton for renter's insurance...I opted to add a few extras in, but the flight school I used to rent from only requires the policy to cover the deductible, which I think is $5000.

So if you have $5000 aircraft damage liability that's all you need.
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Is there a no-subrogation clause in the school's policy?

I'd want to see a copy of the policy before going bare like that.
 
Gucci Pilot said:
Anyone have any luck getting a monthly policy as opposed to a year policy? I am trying to get my ATP in about a week timeframe so I would only need the insurance for a month max instead of a whole year.
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Why can't you take an annual policy then cancel when you don't need it?
 
Caramon13 said:
Wow, you guys pay a ton for renter's insurance...I opted to add a few extras in, but the flight school I used to rent from only requires the policy to cover the deductible, which I think is $5000.

So if you have $5000 aircraft damage liability that's all you need.
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paflyer said:
Is there a no-subrogation clause in the school's policy?

I'd want to see a copy of the policy before going bare like that.
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The policy at my FBO is similar, but I'm sure there's a subrogation clause in there. The deciding factor is whether or not they would bother to pursue it on the typical 1980's 172 I fly. I keep $10K in hull damage for that reason, hedging that I'm not going to be totaling the old bird unless there's a complete engine failure or other catastrophic event. Blowing a tire or pranging the wing is more likely to just need to cover the deductible.
 
DFH65 said:
I pay close to $700 a year. That is for 1,000,000/100,000/100,000 liability coverage. I also have 50K in hull about the value of the 172M I fly.

If you wreck the owners plane his insurance company is likely going to come after you to pay for it.

Personally I like to have full hull coverage as the last thing I want to think about if I get in a bind is how am I going to pay for this mess.
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I have $1M/100K/100K with $40k hull and paid $660 this year, so that's about in line. Who do you use for insurance?
 
Gucci Pilot said:
I guess I could see if they pro-rate it for the months not used.
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My policy (owner, not renter) has a pro rate schedule in the policy for cancellation. I don't get a refund if they total the airplane, though lol. I can't imagine why a renters policy would be different.
 
mkosmo said:
I have $1M/100K/100K with $40k hull and paid $660 this year, so that's about in line. Who do you use for insurance?
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I went through Falcon and the EAA. I may drop the hull some this year. The value of the plane isn't getting any higher.
 
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paflyer said:
Is there a no-subrogation clause in the school's policy?

I'd want to see a copy of the policy before going bare like that.
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I've seen cases where the FBO/school actually has a "non-owners liability policy" as part of their overall policy for some high value (eg $200k). The deductible on that is say $5k and then they require students/renter to have their own policy for that 5k. The rental details say the student/renter is a named insured on the school/FBO policy for the "non-owners liability" rider and include a copy of this rider state by as such from their insurance.

That would provide 3 layers of coverage. 1) The owners hull policy, 2) The FBOs non-owners policy that names the renter as an insured, 3) The renter's deductible insurance that pays out against 2 if it's engaged

That seems like a very reasonable solution and makes sure everyone is covered so far as the airplane itself is concerned. I'm sure that rider isn't cheap but can be built into the rental cost and net net is better than every renter having to go out and buy $100k worth of aircraft coverage each year.
 
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DFH65 said:
I went through Falcon and the EAA. I may drop the hull some this year. The value of the plane isn't getting any higher.
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When I got quotes through them (granted, I was a student), they were significantly worse than everybody else except AOPA. I would up talking to Travers and getting a policy via Old Republic.
 
I'm not sure if it's a true story or not, but I have read recently that there is an airplane at the bottom of a reservoir around here that is still being paid for by a renter who crashed it without having renters insurance.
 
The real reason I am trying to figure all this out is because I am weighing this information into whether or not I should join a local flying club. Part of the flying club dues goes towards paying for insurance. If I consider renters insurance as a monthly costs (kind of like dues to the FBO), then it makes much more financial sense to join the flying club.
 
If you have assets, you should be carrying the insurance.

If you have nothing then you're very unlikely to be sued.

Which club? Phoenix Flyers?
 
The non-owner's insurance covers more than the deductible on the owner's policy, right? If that's all it covered, I'd just self insure.
 
register@teamandras.com said:
The non-owner's insurance covers more than the deductible on the owner's policy, right? If that's all it covered, I'd just self insure.
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Liability and hull coverage, usually.

Even if you only insure for their deductible, the owner's insurance could still try to hold you liable for more... Insurance isn't a get out of liability free card.
 
mkosmo said:
When I got quotes through them (granted, I was a student), they were significantly worse than everybody else except AOPA. I would up talking to Travers and getting a policy via Old Republic.
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When I did the math it was almost the same no matter who you went with. Here are the actual numbers when I initially did it. The 40K and 50K are hull.

insurance_zpsgxlqtidk.jpg


There were a few other advantages to going through EAA as well based on the actual wording of the policy.
 
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DFH65 said:
When I did the math it was almost the same no matter who you went with. Here are the actual numbers when I initially did it.

insurance_zpsgxlqtidk.jpg


There were a few other advantages to going through EAA as well based on the actual wording of the policy.
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When I did my initial quoting (I was a student, though), the same conditions, AOPA wanted 4x the premium for not in motion liability only as compared to what Travers came back with. I didn't try EAA back then.

I've just stuck with Travers as they've been very good to me. I like the people and they provide a great and fairly priced product to me.
 
register@teamandras.com said:
The non-owner's insurance covers more than the deductible on the owner's policy, right? If that's all it covered, I'd just self insure.
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Well if the deductible was $5K (seems common) and the minimums renters insurance is $200/yr, that's 25 years of premiums you could pay for just one incident. Obviously renters covers more than just the deductible, but even if it didn't it still seems worth it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
paflyer said:
Why can't you take an annual policy then cancel when you don't need it?
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Many airplane policies are 50% earned at issuance, I learned this when I was transitioning from renting to ownership.

Luckily they applied all of my renters premium to my owners premium a few months later.
 
Has anyone found renter's insurance with a per seat limit higher than $100,000?
 
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