Flying an aircraft requires years of training, and learning how to fly can be difficult at first even with the help of an experienced flight instructor. However, once you mastered it, you discover that operating an airplane is much easier even than operating a car.
Still, just like driving a vehicle on land, flying an aircraft has its fair share of risks. For example, the engine can malfunction, control towers might have slight miscommunication, and bad weather can cause drastic accidents. And in rare occasions, a hot air balloon may fly by as you’re about to land and cause problems. When any of this happens, you might have to face professional liability and pay fees.
If you want to avoid this potentially happening to you, you will be smart to invest in a pilot insurance policy. Since there are many forms of insurance for pilots, we’re going to explore what kinds of insurance pilots can get their hands on, how much does pilot insurance costs, and the best pilot insurance companies to get it from.
Pilot general liability insurance is one of the most common types of insurance that carriers offer to commercial and private pilots because these policies apply to situations that could result in common and hefty expenses. However, general liability insurance differs in many ways when compared to other policies available.
General liability insurance for their professions has terms that apply for claims arising from situations happening in the premises of the office. As for pilots, their general liability policy applies to any plane they decide to operate as it's considered their place of work.
Pilot general liability insurance applies when you’ve caused a bodily injury to a third party while you’re operating the aircraft. For example, if you cause accidents and injure passengers due to an accident, this insurance will pay for the costs.
However, bodily injury isn’t the only thing that pilot liability insurance will pay out for, as it will also cover you in case you cause property damage while operating the aircraft. Using the previous example, a liability policy will protect you if the accident damaged valuable goods such as phones, computers, and materials for export.
A lot of insurance policies available for pilots can be paired with a general liability policy for comprehensive coverage. For example, there's professional liability coverage that will help to sort things out when a pilot commits mistakes or errors while operating a plane.
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There are many different forms of business insurance policies available for commercial pilots, ranging from the basic pilot liability coverage that we mentioned up above to disability insurance. Disability coverage may seem redundant for pilots when they already have medical coverage from their companies, but there are some exceptions that may make it necessary.
For example, if your medical coverage gets all used up after an accident and you still need money to handle your disabilities, you’ll still be covered by your own disability coverage. Additional liability insurance of your own may help cover expenses that exceed the limits your employer’s policy has.
Insurance for private pilots is available in just as many forms as it is for commercial pilots. However, private pilots need their own coverage more than commercial pilots because they’re not affiliated with any company who can provide them with needed coverage.
This means that you may wish to get your hands on disability insurance in case you get into an accident while flying your private aircraft. You may also wish to get your aircraft insured to cover costs for repairs, property damage, and accidents.
Business insurance is also known as a business owner policy (BOP). These insurance policies are known for combining several forms of insurance into one convenient package. As you may have expected from the name of this coverage, it mainly combines insurance policies that are advantageous for business owners.
BOPs are popular with insurance carriers because they ensure that their customers stick with them instead of getting a policy from the competition, especially if the competitor’s policy is cheaper. By putting together two policies that are in demand and discounting them, carriers make sure that their customers stick with them.
However, BOPs can vary depending on which insurance carrier you get the policy from and the amount of money you’re paying for the policy each month. More affordable policies will typically feature fewer types of coverage, sometimes being limited to public liability coverage and commercial property insurance.
If you pay a bit more for your BOP, you may get bumped up to general liability coverage accompanied by commercial property insurance, employers’ liability coverage, and more. Keep in mind that some BOPs will also feature optional add-ons that you can get for a discounted rate, as well.
The cost typically depends on a range of different aspects of your business, including how large it is. If you own a larger piloting business, you’ll have to pay more for insurance because you’re likely to have more clients, meaning that the insurance company will be more likely to have to pay out for you.
The opposite can be said of a smaller aviation business since they will be less likely to file claims, and if they do end up filing a claim, the insurer will likely have to pay less. We’ve put together a table of the quotes that we got from 3 of the best pilot insurance providers:
| Company | Cost per month | Cost per year |
|---|---|---|
| Xinsurance | $74 | $888 |
| Horton | $82 | $984 |
| Evolution | $90 | $1080 |
To get these prices, we used a pilot with 10 years of experience and has no prior history of making claims related to aviation. We did this to get our values as close to reference as possible.
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Finding the best pilot insurance companies will allow you to benefit from better rates and improved service. However, it can be challenging to figure out which company will be able to serve your needs best. That’s why we’ve put together this part of our guide in which we review 3 of the top companies out there. To compare accurate pilot insurance quotes online side-by-side for your specific needs and get the best value for your money, click the 'Get Quotes' button and complete the questionnaire.
Xinsurance is known for providing insurance in high-risk industries that many other insurance companies are unwilling to operate in. Some examples included tattoo shops, guard dogs, security guards, and more. Xinsurance also specializes in insuring pilots.
The Xinsurance pilot insurance program encompasses many different classes of pilots, ranging from instructor pilots to students to professional pilots. Xinsurance covers a wide range of flying vehicles including helicopters, experimental aircraft, ultralights, and even vintage and antique aircraft.
Average cost : $74
Best for : Ultralight pilots
Our rating : 4/5
The Horton Group specializes in providing their customers with insurance that wouldn’t be available from other providers. They work in different fields, including insurance, enterprise risk, and employee benefits. They take a logical approach to determining risk that often allows them to beat the competition when it comes to rates.
Horton offers aircraft hull and liability coverage to pilots, covering physical damage, the operators of the aircraft, and passengers. All passengers, crew members, and pilots also get medical coverage under their policies. They also offer discounts for pilots who fly more than 100 hours per year.
Average cost : $82
Best for : Highly-qualified pilots
Our rating : 4/5
Evolution Insurance Brokers offers insurance brokerage services to customers who normally cannot access the E&S marketplace. This leads to them opening up a lot of insurance opportunities that would otherwise be impossible to reach for many agents and clients.
Evolution offers pilot liability insurance for both fixed-wing and helicopter pilots. They accept online applications and get back to potential clients much more quickly than the competition, allowing you to get an idea of how much your insurance will cost you without an arduous waiting process.
Average cost : $90
Best for : Pilots for high-end aircraft
Our Rating : 4/5
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
It really can't get any better than this... wow
Not all those who wander are lost.
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