Does anyone out there know a way to get higher Bodily Injury Liability Limits? I am with Avemco. I recently increased mine from $100,000 to $300,000. After thinking about it, and discussing it with my wife, $300,000 still seems like not enough coverage. Avemco said the industry standard is a $300,000 limit and it has been fro about 10 to 15 years. Does anyone out there have higher limits? If so, what company do you use? Or, is it possible to buy umbrella coverage to drop down on top on the $300,000 limit? Any guidance is appreciated.

Alex

Actually the industry standard is $100,000 and has been for the 10 years I have been doing this. The only company offering $300,000 routinely is Avemco unless I am mistaken. By the way, your overall policy liability limit is probably at $1,000,000 for bodily injury and property damage with the sub limitation being per person at $100,000 or $300,000 in your case. The key is that Avemco (used to and I assume still does) limits the bodily injury on a "per person" basis instead of "per passenger". In effect this limits your bodily injury from the $1,000,000 overall limit for ALL PERSONS who may be injured. Most all other insurance companies set the sub limit on a per passenger basis effecting the bodily injury liability only on those onboard the aircraft.

Most companies offer liability limits at $1 Mil / $100,000, $1 Mil / $250,000, or $1 Mil / $1 Mil (also known as a smooth limit) to those who qualify for the higher limit options.

Umbrella policies specifically exclude aviation risks.

Avemco (used to and I assume still does) limits the bodily injury on a "per person" basis instead of "per passenger".

Thanks for your response. Do I understand you correctly: Are you saying "per person" is better (broader) than "per passenger"? (If, for instance, you hurt someone on the ground?) Or, are you saying, if the limit is 300k "per passenger", and you hurt someone on the ground, that person on the ground is covered by the overall limit of $1M? Therefore, "per passenger" is better? Anyone...anyone...

Alex

Alex wrote: Do I understand you correctly: Are you saying "per person" is better (broader) than "per passenger"? (If, for instance, you hurt someone on the ground?) Or, are you saying, if the limit is 300k "per passenger", and you hurt someone on the ground, that person on the ground is covered by the overall limit of $1M? Therefore, "per passenger" is better? Anyone...anyone...

Alex

Yes & No...you have them backwards and correct at the same time. This is a limitation so it takes away coverage from the overall limit of $1,000,000 (or whatever the policy states). A "per passenger" limit is very defined whereas a "per person"limit is very broad...you were correct in that part, however, you want a limit to be very defined and not broad. With a per person limit the coverage does not exceed X for anyone who is injured whether they are on board or on the ground so your overall limit is greatly reduced for bodily injury. With a per passenger limit the coverage does not exceed X, only for passangers who are injured. In this scenario a person injured on the ground could receive the full policy limit if needed. If you have to choose, you want the person on the ground to have the least limitation as you have the greatest duty of care owed to them.

Here is an example: A plane goes down and hits a house...2 fatalities on board and 1 serious on the ground. In a per person policy each could receive no more than $100,000 (or whatever the sub limit is). On a per passenger policy there would be $100,000 for each person on board and up to $800,000 for the person on the ground.

The best option is a "smooth" limit which only has a limitation for the overall policy. The overall limit can be split up or used in total, whichever is needed. This policy type is more expensive and not always offered.

lowflybye wrote:Here is an example: A plane goes down and hits a house...2 fatalities on board and 1 serious on the ground. In a per person policy each could receive no more than $100,000 (or whatever the sub limit is). On a per passenger policy there would be $100,000 for each person on board and up to $800,000 for the person on the ground.

Let me correct / clarify that a bit more...on the per passenger policy, each person on board could receive no more than $100,000, but the person on the ground could receive the full policy limit. It could break down as mentioned above, or it could break down any number of ways provided the given limits are not exceeded. At no time will the policy pay out an amount greater than the policy limit so any way you divide it up there is only $1,000,000 (or whatever limit is given in your policy) in liablity to cover bodily injury and property damage.

Thanks so much for your explanations. I will review my policy more carefully; now that I know more. Although they will not increase the sub limit, maybe I can get them to improve the coverage in another way. (By making the limit "smooth" etc.) Thanks again.

Alex