Page 38 - mmopaMJ21

THE AVIATION INSURANCE
As most PA46 owners and MMOPA members will concur, one of the more active top-
ics during the last several years in
the majority of “OPA” organizations (owners and pilots associations) has been insurance. We started seeing an increased frequency of insurance-relat- ed dialogue amongst members includ- ing website topics/posts in late 2018 which coincided with the “hardening” of the insurance market. The hardening of the aviation insurance marketplace was brought on by a number of factors one of which is reduced capacity (num- ber of aviation insurers participating
in the space).
Aircraft owners beginning in late 2018 were seeing rising premiums, reduced limits of liability offerings,
tighter training requirements and in some cases refusal to insure ‘senior’ pilots (over age 65 or 70) on certain policies. There is no doubt that anyone who has purchased aircraft insurance or other aviation insurance products during the last three years’ time has been privy to these market changes and material shift in underwriting practices. Specific to the PA46 class and M-class the more pronounced changes have been felt in the higher asset valued aircraft (M600’s, M500’s, etc).
Insurance – especially aviation insurance – is a very cyclical product. Premiums go up and premiums come down in a cycle that generally runs 3-5 years and markets eventually “self- correct” over time. The apex of a hard market was post 9-11 following the
terrorist attacks and the billions of dollars in property/casualty insurance settlements during that period for loss of life and property destruction. The insurance market as a whole broadened through the mid 2000’s until later
in that decade when capacity was
at a high (capacity being number of insurers underwriting aviation risks in the space).
With the high aviation premiums commonplace post 9-11 we saw many “new”carriers jump into the aviation underwriting pool. The aviation underwriting market was close to 20 total aviation carriers in late 2000 and approximately 10+ of those were very viable carriers for all classes of PA46 aircraft. Around 2010, the aviation insurance market became very friendly
MARKETPLACE
How to get the most out of your insurance in 2021.
by Tom Hauge
38 MMOPA MAGAZINE MAY / JUNE 2021