View Full Version : travel insurance for ppl
scotte
24th Jan 2003, 14:18
Anyone else had snags getting travel insurance to cover you for PPL training in the USA? After phoning aroung a couple of companies, I faced a clear divide in the answers I received..
a) Yes but you are likely to have to sell your house to afford it
b) Flying?? Dont be so stupid.
c) Wrong number
There were a few companies who were very helpful and when you think of the alternatives of paying a hospital bill, they are reallly quite acceptable. I did a search through the pprune archives and came up with a few suggestions. Has anyone got any more recent experience of getting such insurance?
I've looked at "Trailfinders", "Worldwide travel insurance" and Traffords (who were very helpful).
Appreciate any feedback,
scotte
What was wrong with Traffords? £120-ish for annual cover, for trips of up to 60 days, excluding only aerobatic flying. Maybe there are better quotes to be found but it seemed reasonable to me. I found them rather abrupt rather than helpful, though, I have to say!
slim_slag
24th Jan 2003, 15:55
Trailfinders in London will sell you light aircraft coverage with a 75% load, but you have to ask and wait while they call their broker. Friendly bunch, and no 0870 rip off. Annual multi trip (ten weeks out at a time) will be around £175. That's a lot cheaper than a single trip to an ER with a cut finger. When I broke my leg recently the bill for the operating theatre alone was over £10 PER MINUTE (and that was a cheap hospital) and paracetamol tablets were over £1 EACH! (I was tough and didn't need the morphine :D ) Don't expect any mercy if you don't pay but they think you can, they will bancrupt you at the drop of a hat.
a) Yes but you are likely to have to sell your house to afford it
If you have a house they will force the sale and don't think they won't follow you back to the UK. Buy the insurance :)
Sensible
24th Jan 2003, 16:05
Just got my renewalin today from Traffords tel 0870 9000 331- the cost is £ 115.50 for the year for a max of 31 days any one trip and covers for power fixed wing only and no aerobatics- errrr I just realised that I have been flying gliders whilst uninsured- gulp!!! :eek:
Sensible, looks like I'm paying an extra fiver to get 60-day trip coverage!
slim_slag what do you mean "with a 75% load" - your passengers are insured too?
Sensible
24th Jan 2003, 16:39
They might take into account things like age and flying experience, similar to car insurers when they calculate the risk and premium!
slim_slag
24th Jan 2003, 18:21
carb,
No, doesn't mean that :). Normal price for insurance is £99, the "load" means the extra cash you pay because they think flying little planes is terribly dangerous. 75% takes it up to around £175. I think "load" is the correct term, but might be getting too clever for myself.
If you negligently crash and damage a passenger, they can sue you for all sorts of things. So can somebody on the ground, so you need coverage for that too. I have always assumed that if I pay the extra for light plane cover, my negligence will be covered by the same policy. Not a good assumption I feel, but I have other airplane coverage in place so it doesn't matter to me.
scotte
24th Jan 2003, 18:32
Thanks for the replies. My quotes so far have all been above £250! Nevermind, got to get it though I suppose. I called Traffords again and they came up with a different scheme, just waiting for them to return with a quote now. How recently was it that you all got such good deals?
Once again, i appreciate all your help.
Scotte
phnuff
24th Jan 2003, 19:16
Last time I flew there, I got insurance from a company that advertised in the back of pilot.They were based in Liverpool and I believe called Michael Dawes. It cost around £30 for 14 days which was pretty much all I needed.
Not sure if they are still around, but it may be worth a try.
Well mine was £110 last year (annual, 60-day trips, worldwide) and the renewal quote I got in the post yesterday has gone up to £119.85. Dunno if this is due to inflation, terrorism, taxes or whether they heard about my last landing.
Sensible
24th Jan 2003, 20:40
Scotte, Traffords insure me through Primary International Ltd and it's an Annual Multi Trip Policy (Worldwide) £ 115.50 as at 22 Jan.