The Big Impact of Time on your Personal Insurance By Franz Smit Every day I am asked to review a new clients insurance portfolio and compare what he/she has with what PilotInsure can offer and there are a few worrying trends which have emerged. Often, the insurance is incorrectly structured for the client's specific needs, or the application has been done incorrectly and the client's rating with the insurance house is incorrect (for example, rated as an airline pilot but in reality they fly helicopter charters). There can be a number of reasons for this. Either the person who assisted you with your insurance initially, had no idea there was a difference between an airline pilot and a helicopter pilot and simply went with a general "pilot" explanation, or the client was an airline pilot when the insurance was originally taken but has since changed occupation. The problem with having the incorrect description of your flying on your insurance is a huge one. It will mean the difference between your insurance paying out the day you need it or the insurance house declining your claim due to non-disclosure. With the above example your risk was rated and assessed as an airline pilot, but in reality you were far from it, as the risk associated with helicopter charter flying and that of an airline pilot is worlds apart. This is where time has a major effect on your insurance... Many things can change over time and as your career progresses. Type, routes, passenger, cargo, offshore, manned and unmanned airfields are just a few examples of how insurance risk is assessed. If your insurance does not reflect your exact nature of flying at the time of an incident or claim trigger event, then the chance of non-payment is all too real. It is vital to update your insurance every time there is a circumstances change in your duties as a pilot. Make 100% sure that the information provided to the insurance house is accurate and reflects your exact nature of flying. As a general rule, go over your insurance at least once a year as a check-up with your broker and ask as many questions as you can think of. Another way time impacts on your personal insurance is there could be a possible reduction in your premium or increase in benefits due to the competitive nature of the insurance industry. Ultimately the responsibility lies with you to find any possible oversights and misrepresentation in your insurance cover. Take the opportunity and make certain it's accurate; otherwise you might end up paying for risk cover which won't be useful in a claim situation. If you are at all unsure that you are comprehensively insured for your exact type of flying, then it's time to make contact with an aviation specialist broker asap. Happy landings, and enjoy the time off and good weather over the festive season! Franz

Franz Smit - Aviation Insurance

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