I have always been led to believe that a pilot couldn't get life insurance thru his normal insurance company, that you had to go thru somebody who writes policies specifically with the pilot in mind. This is not true. Just today I signed the papers for insurance thru my Allstate agent. The actual insurance company is Lincoln Benefit Life. They asked about my flying. Hours per year, total time, etc. In the end the flying did not affect the rate one iota. I got the best rate they offer and had I not been a pilot the rate would be the same. I got a $500K, 10 year term policy for $38 a month, I am age 44. This is less than I was quoted from the Pilot Insurance Center that is advertised in many flying magazines and a hell of a lot less than my insurance thru the federal government which I can now cancel.

This is good news that needs to be spread around, yes other pilot friendly
insurance have led us to believe we have no choice but to go sign with them.
I fell into this trap long time back........ You should tell your allstate agent to spread the word, and have company do the same.

Good of you to bring this to light

Thanks


Take Care

Bonanza Man -

Not sure where you have received this information regarding insurance policies not honoring aviation related accidents where you are a required crewmember (i.e. pilot in command), I have been able to find many life insurance carriers that provide pilot coverage. Just not all do.

My life insurance through work, for example, is through Metropolitan Life. They will honor the claim against the life insurance should I become a smoking remembrance, but not the Accidental Death and Dismemberment rider that effectively doubles the policy should my demise be unexpected. For that reason, plus the fact that the policy offered through Met Life is triple what PIC quoted me, I went with PIC.

PIC is just a broker. The policy that I was offered by PIC is through Lincoln Benefit Life - just like you get through Allstate. I in fact just had my medical exam this morning - I got $600,000, 20 year level term for 40 yr old $576/yr. My kids are young at 6 and 4, and I needed the extra coverage till they're through college and fully out on their own.

It is very possible that you may have received some extra discount if you are carrying your car, home, etc with them too. As you correctly pointed out, it pays to shop around. It also pays to read the policy - I would have not known about the basic vs. AD&D claims payment had I not read the different policies and clarified with Met Life.

Flynengr

I had more grief about my scuba diving than I ever did about flying...but then again, I got the impression from the agent that my higher overall time and amount flown per year made it a non-issue for them.

Bonanza Man wrote:In the end the flying did not affect the rate one iota. I got the best rate they offer and had I not been a pilot the rate would be the same...This is less than I was quoted from the Pilot Insurance Center that is advertised in many flying magazines and a hell of a lot less than my insurance thru the federal government which I can now cancel.

All I can say is read the policy wording...apples to apples comparison... most of the time if it is too good to be true or if there is that big of a difference between companies there is a good reason for it.

I find it very hard to believe that pilot times and the fact that you fly did not have a bearing on the cost...maybe that is becouse there is no coverage for it so it would not matter anyway.

Just having a helicopter rating bumped my life ins. cost up a couple notches (several?) , even though I am not currently using it. Hated the idea of asking the FAA to strip off the rating, though.

costs me an extra 600 a year to fly, on a 2mil 20 year level term, still total is less than 2k a year, i'm 48

For all flying except instructing and flying my experimental (RV-4), I got quotes nearly identical to Bonanza man - to include the flying not affecting the rates.

For operating as a CFI, or flying aircraft with experimental airworthiness certificates, the premiums quoted were about 3 1/2 times higher.

I wonder if they've actually got fancy actuarial data on accident rates, or if they're just guessing and putting the squeeze on us. (Or, if maybe I didn't look hard enough and am just a sucker.)

--Tony

lowflybye wrote:

Bonanza Man wrote:In the end the flying did not affect the rate one iota. I got the best rate they offer and had I not been a pilot the rate would be the same...This is less than I was quoted from the Pilot Insurance Center that is advertised in many flying magazines and a hell of a lot less than my insurance thru the federal government which I can now cancel.

All I can say is read the policy wording...apples to apples comparison... most of the time if it is too good to be true or if there is that big of a difference between companies there is a good reason for it.

I find it very hard to believe that pilot times and the fact that you fly did not have a bearing on the cost...maybe that is becouse there is no coverage for it so it would not matter anyway.

I did read the policy. It's suprisingly short. They did not ask about what kinds of aircraft I flew or what ratings I had. They did ask about scuba diving. I also assumed that if you commit suicide the policy is voided. Not the case. If I commit suicide within the first two years then it is void, after that they pay. That tells me suicide is a trivial concern to the insurance company.