MidlifeFlyer
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
So, if someone was to rent planes from their local FBO that has a $2,500 deductible, what would you suggest they do? Get an additional insurance policy? I'm still confused about this.
[/ QUOTE ]Not an easy question to answer.
Buying any insurance is a balance between the cost of the insurance, the risk you are faced with, and the exposure that you feel. How much protection do you need? And what's it worth to you?
On the FBO deductible part, remember that this is usually "no-fault" - you didn't have to do anything than have the airplane in your care for it to come into play. You'd probably find that any hull policy will be enough to cover most deductibles. The question is how much above it to go.
To make that decision you could ask yourself how likely is it that you will cause damage to an airplane that is your fault? (If you decide that the risk is 0, you'd be wrong). Then you could try to figure out how much damage you are likely to cause. Then you throw the numbers into a hat and see what comes out.
For example, you might figure that the combined risk of having a serious enough accident that's your fault to total an airplane completely is low enough that you don't need to carry $180,000 in case you do it in a brand new 172SP. On the other hand, a hard landing might cause some appreciable damage, so you want more than a minimum policy.
There's probably some nice spreadsheet that helps to figure these things out, but I sure don't have one.
So, if someone was to rent planes from their local FBO that has a $2,500 deductible, what would you suggest they do? Get an additional insurance policy? I'm still confused about this.
[/ QUOTE ]Not an easy question to answer.
Buying any insurance is a balance between the cost of the insurance, the risk you are faced with, and the exposure that you feel. How much protection do you need? And what's it worth to you?
On the FBO deductible part, remember that this is usually "no-fault" - you didn't have to do anything than have the airplane in your care for it to come into play. You'd probably find that any hull policy will be enough to cover most deductibles. The question is how much above it to go.
To make that decision you could ask yourself how likely is it that you will cause damage to an airplane that is your fault? (If you decide that the risk is 0, you'd be wrong). Then you could try to figure out how much damage you are likely to cause. Then you throw the numbers into a hat and see what comes out.
For example, you might figure that the combined risk of having a serious enough accident that's your fault to total an airplane completely is low enough that you don't need to carry $180,000 in case you do it in a brand new 172SP. On the other hand, a hard landing might cause some appreciable damage, so you want more than a minimum policy.
There's probably some nice spreadsheet that helps to figure these things out, but I sure don't have one.
