Following a very thought provoking presentation at a recent strut meeting where a passenger was seriously injured following an accident, a number of people checked their own insurance policies to ensure they were properly covered.
The minimum levels of third party and passenger liability cover are detailed in The Civil Aviation (Insurance) Regulations 2005 following EC Regulation No 785/2004. These limits are expressed in SDR's and for the average LAA two seat aircraft are 1.5m for third party and 100,000 for passenger liability. For our purposes one SDR is about £1.
You should be under no illusion that £100,000 for passenger liability is anywhere near adequate. It is not. It is totally inadequate. In the event of even a relatively minor accident it would hardly pay the legal fees never mind any damages awarded in court. This is usually not an issue as any reputable insurance intermediary will quote a premium to you on a combined single limit basis which means that the third party limit is also available for passenger liability.
Discussing this at the airstrip today, one person had checked his cover and was appalled to find he did not have a combined single limit and his passenger cover was restricted to £100,000. Another resident had brought his policy with him as he also had found he was in the same position. Yet another resident had recently has a renewal quotation which was found to be on the same basis. All these policies were from the same intermediary. It goes without saying that a quote with restricted passenger liability cover will be cheaper than one on a combined single limit basis and if you don't notice the difference you may believe you are getting a better deal.
For any intermediary to offer such a restricted cover without warning of the consequences strikes me as professional negligence.
Can I suggest you check your own policy BEFORE you have an accident to make sure you are adequately coverered.
Passenger Liability Insurance
Moderators: John Dean, Moderator