Previous accident records on airline insurance

by JAN Nartey » Wed Nov 19, 2008 02:30 pm

Effect of previous accident on airline insurance

Total Comments: 3

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 07:11 pm Post Subject: Airline Insurance?

Jan - you might have to clarify this one for us.

If by Airline Insurance you're talking about insuring an airplane, it's also called 'aircraft insurance.' Yes, each of the pilots would probably be named on the policy and their previous accidents would probably affect the premium of the policy - if the company could even write it. I'm making an educated guess, since I've never written such a policy.

Or, you maybe talking about a type of 'travel insurance.' It's usually, Accidental Death coverage, an event that only happens once. I'm not sure how a auto accident would affect that type of policy.

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:30 am Post Subject:

In all types of insurance the rates are measured upon the likelihood of the occurrence. Higher the probability, higher will be the rate. And an pilot who have met an accident before may be assigned with greater risk, and therefore higher premium.

However, I'd forward this thread to Sean. He is an expert of Aviation insurance. I'm sure that he would be able to help.

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 03:33 pm Post Subject:

Jan,

If you are referring to aircraft insurance I can answer this question for you. Insurance underwriters will base their rates on the likelyhood of future losses based on the past experience of the insured and known pilots. I will give you the following senario that may apply to your situation. If yours differs please give us more details and we can come up with a more appropriate answer.

If you are an owner or partner in an aircraft your loss record and that of all the named pilots will be used to rate the policy. A loss surcharge is usually applied after all other factors are determined. i.e. pilot hours, ratings, aircraft complexity, aircraft use, advanced training, etc.

Where this can become sticky is if you own the aircraft and a non-owner pilot causes a loss while flying your plane. The loss of that individual will follow both of you for 3 to 5 years. Any aircraft that the pilot flys will be subject to loss surcharges. You, the aircraft owner, will be under that dark cloud also. In some situations, an uderwriter can be convinced that the loss has been mitigated by excluding the pilot from the policy thus not surcharging the policy. Oftentimes this only happens when the losses are minor and not apt to be repeated.

Aviation insurance is a small market segment and major losses can affect the bottom line of the companies. "Loss ratio" is usually based on 3 years of premium calculation. Anything above 50% usually results in surcharges. Based on an average policy premium of $4500, a loss of $7000 will put you in that category. Based on experience I can tell you that very few claims get settled for under that figure.

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