Pilot Insurance

The type of insurance coverage needed for the security industry will depend on your unique circumstances. XINSURANCE does not provide a cookie-cutter policy that applies to everyone. Instead, we talk to you and learn more about you and/or your business. We then come up with an insurance solution that provides customized coverage based on your needs. This all-in-one approach allows you to pick which coverages you want to have on your insurance policy.

According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, there are an average of 1,223 accidents each year in the United States. You need pilot liability insurance to help protect you when things go wrong. In life, you will learn how good your insurance partner is when what can happen does happen. XINSURANCE stands by your side when an accident, incident, claim, or lawsuit occurs. Having pilot liability insurance can protect you from significant financial loss to you or your business. In most places, pilot liability insurance is required.

What is Student Pilot Insurance?

Student pilot insurance protects you from having to pay hefty fees if something happens to the airplane you’re flying, or something else goes wrong during a flight. Insurance can cover you and the plane you rent for your flying lessons. You can be held responsible for damage to the plane, but liability insurance may prevent you from having a large payout.

You can also avoid paying for bodily injury to another person while you fly or property damage sustained during a flight. You would never dream of getting in a car without insurance, and it’s just as important to have an insurance policy while flying an airplane.

Why it’s important to have Student Pilot Information

Student pilot insurance can safeguard you and your finances in the event of damage or injury. Reasons to get student pilot insurance include:

1. Following requirements: Your fixed-base operator (FBO) or flight school may not let you fly unless you have insurance.
2. Ensuring protection: The policy of your FBO or flight school often only covers them.
3. Preparing for responsibility: Even when using a rental, the plane owner or their insurance company could hold you accountable for anything bad that happens during a flight.

What’s under Student Pilot Insurance

Student pilot insurance can protect you in various circumstances. For instance, if someone with a subrogation clause owns the plane you are flying, insurance can cover the costs of their loss of use. Your policy can also cover medical expenses if you get hurt. If you damage the hull while flying, insurance can pay for the damage to the aircraft. This does not cover full hull (inland marine coverage), it can only cover up to $10,000 (or more for an additional premium) for legal liability to non-owned aircraft covering the deductible. The policy covers 3^rd party on the ground, no passengers.

Understanding Negligence By A Flight Instructor

Liability for an accident involves two categories — intentional or negligent acts. An intentional act will leave a certified flight instructor (CFI) without insurance protection, but flight liability often comes from negligence.

What is negligence in the insurance world? Negligence is often defined as a lack of due care. As a flight instructor, it’s your responsibility to pay attention to safety details and make smart decisions. If you’re held liable for an accident, legal professionals will consider whether you properly executed your duties as a CFI.

As a certified flight professional, you’re held to a high standard. If a prosecutor finds you weren’t fulfilling your responsibilities as a flight instructor, you’ll have to pay out a large sum of money. In an instance where you’re flying with a student pilot, the responsibility may technically be theirs due to their lack of experience, but the event will still likely fall on your shoulders since you’re the instructor.

One of your many responsibilities as a CFI is making sure you have fulfilled all of your duties as a flight professional.

What Can You Do To Reduce Risk?

• Release forms: You should always require your student pilots to sign release forms before starting instruction. These official documents express the involved risk with flight lessons, and when a student signs one, they acknowledge that you may not be liable for any harm that could occur. Waivers like these can be valuable, but they won’t protect you on their own.
• Documentation: As a CFI, you have a series of steps you have to complete before taking flight, like checking various parts of the plane. Make a note of and date these steps, and you’ll have evidence of you following through with your duties. It’s also critical to follow all training instructions closely and record proof of taking these steps.
• Attention to details: While documentation often involves an eye for detail, you should maintain that philosophy in everything you do. Exercise good judgment and ensure your students are making good decisions as well.

Possible Liabilities For Flight Instructors

Fact is, there are two main areas of exposure to pilots operating an aircraft — liability for physical injury or property damage, and physical damage to the aircraft. Think you’re covered because you’re working for a flight school? Think again. Although the school has insurance, when an accident happens, claimants are looking for multiple sources of compensation. That includes your personal estate, whether you’re alive or deceased. The aircraft owner can also come after you.

Common Scenarios:

• Physical Injury: Student falls from the plane
• Property Damage: Students hits or clips the hangar
• Damage to the Aircraft: Student damages a door of an aircraft

What, then, do you do to protect yourself? The best protection against costly litigation is individual liability insurance from a trusted insurance company.

Aviation pilots face a myriad of risks, including adverse weather conditions, mechanical failures, and navigational challenges, all of which can lead to accidents and potential loss of life. Human factors, such as pilot error, fatigue, and stress, pose significant risks, as does the potential for mid-air collisions and runway incidents at busy airports. Moreover, the aviation industry is subject to strict regulations and oversight, meaning non-compliance or safety breaches can result in legal and professional consequences. Additionally, global events like pandemics and geopolitical tensions can disrupt aviation operations, affecting pilot job security and industry stability. Collectively, these risks highlight the complex and demanding nature of aviation, requiring pilots to maintain rigorous training, situational awareness, and a commitment to safety throughout their careers.

Situations where pilot insurance should provide coverage include:

• While taxiing down a runway, a pilot clips the wing of another plane. Liability insurance may pay for the damage sustained by the other plane.
• During a rough landing, a student pilot causes damage to a plane owned by the instructor. The student’s non-owner liability policy may compensate the owner when repairing the damage.
• While on a weekend pleasure flight, you crash a plane that you own, killing your passenger. Your aircraft liability policy may compensate the victim’s family members if they file a successful lawsuit against you.