PPL Student - Should I carry liability coverage for my training?

[savy13]

Hello,

I am on my PPL training for approx 4 weeks now, with 4 hours of flying completed. When I visited several flying schools in Chicago region to pick one for my training, some indicated a need to have insurance during my training and others (including where I am taking my classes) did not.

I am a risk averse person, so my question is should I get a liability coverage to cover instances where I get involved in an accident due to my mistake when I get towards solo (or even before that with my instructor being with me)? My flying school has a residential area near the landing zone and every time I am landing, I am scared getting too close to the houses. I'd like to avoid a situation where my personal or family net worth gets exposed by any incidence.

Appreciate your insights. And if the recommendation is for me to get some coverage, appreciate advice on type and through what channels should I get it.

[3Dreaming]

If you are worried about protecting personal assets, then I would say you need to get some renters insurance. Besides liability make sure you also get enough to cover 50-75% the hull value for the aircraft you are flying.

[savy13]

Any recommendations on where I can get these? Directly through an insurer or going through a broker. And any specific recommendation on the insurance company?

For hull value, should I seek the replacement cost value through the flying school or through the insurer? I am training in couple of old model Cessna 172s (I believe these are mid-late 70's models).

[TimTaylor]

I have renters insurance through AOPA. However, even with renters insurance, you cannot insulate yourself and your assets from possible liability.

[Sling 2 Pilot]

Numerous companies can provide you with “Renters” insurance. AOPA and AVEMCO are two I’ve used. My plane is currently covered using AOPA’s service.

[3Dreaming]

Any recommendations on where I can get these? Directly through an insurer or going through a broker. And any specific recommendation on the insurance company?

For hull value, should I seek the replacement cost value through the flying school or through the insurer? I am training in couple of old model Cessna 172s (I believe these are mid-late 70's models).

Check with the FBO. They may have something available through their insurer. In the event that something does happen it can make things go a lot smoother.

A mid 70's 172 would be in the 40-50,000 range. I would think $30,000 hull would be enough. If you damage the airplane the insurance company will pay the FBO for the airplane and will try and recoup the cost with you. The airplane will still have some value, you basically need to make up the difference.

One thing to watch for is if the FBO has a rental agreement that you signed, is if you are responsible for lost revenue while the airplane is out of service. Make sure your policy covers that.

[drseti]

I have a page on my flight school's website that discusses this very issue:

http://avsport.org/acft/insure.htm

You'll see there that I require post-solo students to carry renter's insurance. My required hull coverage is roughly half the value of the rental aircraft. The reasoning is that, in the event if a loss, my insurance policy and yours will not balk at splitting the losses between them.

As for liability coverage, I leave that up to the renter. Whether to have it or not is a function of your risk tolerance, and how much to carry is a function of personal wealth, and the value of the assets you wish to protect.

Why only post-solo? Because, up to that point, the CFI is PIC - and my CFIs will have their own insurance.

Also on that webpage are links to the three different insurance companies that my students generally choose between. Their coverage and rates are similar.

Hope you find this helpful.

[savy13]

Thank you all for your responses. This is very beneficial.

Paul - your page is very informative. Appreciate your sharing it.

I'l not wait for getting to solo, but rather get both hull & liability coverage now.

[HAPPYDAN]

I previously carried a renter's policy through AVEMCO.
Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability: $50,000 each person, $500,000 Property Damage, $500,000 each accident.
Aircraft Damage Liability: $20,000 each non-owned aircraft.
Total cost: $292.00 per year.
I thought that was very reasonable, but shop around. You might do better.
800-638-8440

[MrMorden]

The guidance I always received on this, was that you need enough hull coverage to cover the school's deductible, though that is often $10k or more. You can always ask the flight school what their coverage is, and set your coverage accordingly. I carried a $10k policy when I was training and the school liked that number.

As for liability, that is a personal question, and your risk tolerance, assets, etc will determine what you are comfortable with. Just know that that no amount a liability coverage will protect against everything. If you crash an airplane into a school full of children and catch a bunch of them on fire, it's unlikely a $10M policy will protect you completely from those lawsuits.

[drseti]

The guidance I always received on this, was that you need enough hull coverage to cover the school's deductible

Although that amount of coverage will satisfy your immediate obligation following a covered loss, it may be insufficient for what often happens downstream. The flight school's hull coverage will pay off the damage (less, of course, the deductible, which your policy will cover). Subsequently, there is nothing to stop your flight school's insurance carrier from attempting to subrogate against you to recover their losses. This is why I recommend students carry hull insurance at half the value of the aircraft. Most I insurance carriers will try to recover their full losses, and then compromise at splitting the costs 50-50 with the renter's insurance company.

Remember that an insurance adjuster's job is to attempt to deny claims.

[Type47]

Remember that an insurance adjuster's job is to attempt to deny claims.

Actually, the insurance adjuster’s job is to make sure that the insured receives everything they are entitled to according to their policy.
Now, I agree that poor adjusters just try to deny claims.
I also suspect that there may be more poor adjusters than good ones.