There might be a couple of factors in play.
One (Peter Mundy's case) is that the Benelux area is regarded as one country in many respects, for business, and regarded as a "fair play" by e.g. German insurers because it's next door.
Another is that 1M+ hull values make insurance companies look more interested anyway. My guess would be that it's not worth their while to get a loss adjuster to travel too far to haggle over a small payout - say a prop strike on a PA28.
We've been with Haywards for years. They moved us to a Danish insurer last year. They covered us for Europe, but new exclusions were Iceland, Greenland, Svalbard and the Faroes. These didn't bother us, as we could still get a £10000 bacon roll on Jan Mayen, which isn't excluded. (Jodel DR1050 - 4 hours @115kt)__
Both my Mirage and Meridian have been covered by Sirius.
But I also got a quote from A German firm which was higher. Will check name and come back.
I have no complaints about Haywoods; a recent prop strike event was handled very well.
But Hayward's are just the broker right? According to my Jersey based broker the greatest number of claims they see is for bird strike.
Haywards are just a broker - yes. However they are the biggest player in the UK and I think they "own" at least 90% of UK piston GA.
Bird strikes... I wonder what is the typical impact damage there? It cannot possibly be worth claiming any 3 figure sum for example, or even a small 4 figure sum depending on the insurer's attitude on lifting subsequent premiums.
Hits a wing, screen or propeller would be expensive, let alone ingested into a turbine.
Apologies for ‘butting in, but I am currently doing some research on the subject of buying aircraft insurance across borders so this thread is very good timing.
To pick up on some of the points raised earlier on in the thread, so long as a broker has the required regulatory authorisation, there is nothing to stop them from selling a policy to a person who is resident in a different EU state. Indeed there is a procedure called ‘passporting’ which makes it easier for a broker who has met the regulatory requirements of their home country to achieve the necessary authorisation to act in any other EEA country.
Despite this it appears that relatively few owners buy across border which might be down to:
• Their own concerns about the process (e.g. language),
• Few brokers offering the service because of complexity (e.g. the insurance tax issue mention earlier).
• Practicality of promoting the service without having a local presence.
Given the above I would love to know:
a) From those owners who have already bought aircraft insurance from a broker based in another country, what were the countries involved and were the policy documents issued in your language or the language of the broker’s country?
b) For owners who have not bought across borders, would they be prepared to do so if the premium was competitive enough, and if not, what would be their concerns?
c) For owners who are not UK resident and do not speak English, would they be prepared to buy aircraft insurance from a foreign provider and would it be a problem if the site and documents were in English?
For the sake of transparency I should declare that I do run an online insurance provider in the UK but am evaluating whether to roll the service out. The research I am doing is therefore to see if there is an appetite for cross border buying.
Any views gratefully received as posts or feel free to email me direct.
Cheers
Bob
[posted with admin permission - NON advertising] [Edit by BB to correct bullet c which was not that clear before]
b) For owners who have not bought across borders, would they be prepared to do so if the premium was competitive enough, and if not, what would be their concerns?
Probably not, but I only fly a PA28 and with some concessions on pilots hours and ratings, the deal with Haywards in the UK is OK. If the hull value was more, maybe my answer would be different. But I'd also prefer to deal with a broker / agent who I could call on a UK national rate, who I could visit if I really needed to, could be paid in a local currency (less relevant in Europe I guess), ismonitored and regulated by a national authority, has am ombudsman also based nationally.
Like with any insurance, when the deal is too good to be true, there is either a hidden charge, or there will be additonal headaches down the road making a claim. As Peter experienced, you need to know the company you pay your insurance to fairly going to payout or assist on a claim. You cant buy that peace of mind sometimes.
