Page 12 - Volume 10 Number 7

primary, as it presumably has significantly higher liability limits available to protect you in court. I have also seen situations where a non-pilot aircraft owner owns one airplane, but then decides that watching the professional pilots fly the King Air is so much fun they decide to start working on their pilot’s license. With good intentions, they purchase a renter’s policy (non-owned coverage) and start taking lessons. You now have the same problem – two policies pointing at each other.
For those of you that only have one aircraft and one aircraft policy: Do you ever use a non-owned aircraft? One of our clients called last week stating their Hawker was going to be down for maintenance and they were going to use a friend’s King Air 90. Whose policy would pay in the event of a claim? If the PIC from the Hawker meets the pilot warranty of the King Air and is PIC, will the King Air policy be primary? This exact scenario is something that should be addressed in a contract between the two parties in order to avoid litigation in the unfortunate event of a claim.
The third coverage that can come into play is contents of your hangar. You could find yourself in
10 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
a double coverage situation if there is a property policy in addition to your King Air policy. Be sure you understand if your aircraft policy is going to make you whole in the event of, say, a hangar fire, in which you may have coverage under your aircraft policy for “spare parts,” or if your property policy is going to respond. In this scenario, it doesn’t have to be a fire. What if you have “mechanic’s tools” covered under your aircraft policy, but also covered under your property policy?
It is important, whether you are a business or an individual, to make sure all of your policies are aligned with each other and working in a concerted effort as to not unintentionally undermine one another. Additionally, by streamlining coverages within your policies, you may find that you reduce your premiums. KA
Kyle P. White, an aviation insurance specialist, is CEO of Aviation Solutions, a Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC company. He has professionally flown King Air 90s and B200s, and holds an ATP and multi-engine instrument instructor license. You can reach Kyle at kyle.white@marshmma.com.
JULY 2016