Page 13 - July 2015 Volume 9, Number 7

equipment, and engine time. Then you chose the aircraft that provided you with the best value. That’s precisely how you should buy your insurance policy. In addition to looking at the price, look at the “equipment list,” also known as the ancillary coverages. Review each coverage, line by line, amongst the carriers. Which of those ancillary coverages are important to you? Do they meet your needs; do any of them need to be modified? Are all the carriers offering the same coverages and limits for a particular peril? Some carriers are negotiable on those coverages and will increase them if your broker asks. For example, consider medical payments. Do you have $5,000 per passenger and want $25,000 per passenger, including crew? Perhaps one carrier is only offering $10,000, but is cheaper than the carrier offering $25,000? Another example is Guest Voluntary Settlements. Do you want $1,000,000 per passenger, including crew? The lower premium quoting carrier may only be offering $250,000, and excludes crew members. There are dozens of ancillary coverages you need to consider when comparing and contrasting the insurance quotes you receive. You may find the cheapest quote isn’t necessarily the best quote for you. Just like the cheapest King Air may not be the best aircraft.
Another consideration when evaluating which insurance company is best for you is the carrier’s time and experience in the marketplace. No one wants to
purchase insurance from a carrier that doesn’t renew your policy 12 months later because they are exiting the aviation market. Most likely there are many King Air owners reading this article who experienced this exact scenario after having a policy with a well-known carrier that stayed in the aviation market less than 24 months. Their policies were so inexpensive buyers would ask if it was for a six- or 12-month policy. They were quoting King Air insurance for 50% of their expiring premium. Not surprisingly, they left the market as quickly as they had entered.
Note, that the carrier left the market by choice, not because of insolvency. There is a significant difference between the two. If they were insolvent, the state insurance commissioner would have been involved for any existing claims. This is less than ideal if you are in the middle of one of the most common claims a King Air operator faces, FOD, which may not be found until a routine inspection. This means it is entirely possible your previous policy, which expired six months ago, could be held liable for FOD damage that isn’t uncovered until the carrier is no longer in the aviation market and you are with a new provider. This might seem far-fetched, but it happened to a King Air 200 operator, and was determined when the current carrier hired a metallurgist to verify the date of the FOD occurrence.
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JULY 2015
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 11