UK Class 1 Renewal Cost
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Price vary for several reasons. Older AME´s probably got their training for free in the military or cheaply in 2-3 day private courses. Nowadays a complete Class 2 and then Class 1 training programme will cost you about £30.000 all costs included and it´s a 4 week training programme. Of course pilots ends up paying for that in the end.
Legislation has changed and it it no longer the CAA´s responsibility to sign off on renewals the medical responsibility rests solely on the AME. For example lets say an AME fails to notice a heart problem on pilot X and that pilot proceeds to crash a commercial plane in the Unites States. Then a law suit can be directed against that AME. Which of course means that AME´s nowadays has to be insured against lawsuits. At significant cost I might add. A cost that of course again ends up being sent on to the pilots.
I think you can expect that the cost of a renewal for a commercial class1 pilot will increase even more than we see now, just because a lot of older AME´s are still around and a lot of them do not realize the dangers of the changes in legislation.
EASA and thus the European Union has also passed a lot of new legislation putting more responsibilities and costs on the AME´s so expect a renewal to be in the pricerange of £500-800 (including ECG , hearing test and so on) within the foreseeable future.
Legislation has changed and it it no longer the CAA´s responsibility to sign off on renewals the medical responsibility rests solely on the AME. For example lets say an AME fails to notice a heart problem on pilot X and that pilot proceeds to crash a commercial plane in the Unites States. Then a law suit can be directed against that AME. Which of course means that AME´s nowadays has to be insured against lawsuits. At significant cost I might add. A cost that of course again ends up being sent on to the pilots.
I think you can expect that the cost of a renewal for a commercial class1 pilot will increase even more than we see now, just because a lot of older AME´s are still around and a lot of them do not realize the dangers of the changes in legislation.
EASA and thus the European Union has also passed a lot of new legislation putting more responsibilities and costs on the AME´s so expect a renewal to be in the pricerange of £500-800 (including ECG , hearing test and so on) within the foreseeable future.
Sorry mrowkoob that is nonsense
Doctors in the Uk have had to be fully insured for all medical care for many decades. Whilst the cost of insurance has risen it is primarily due to increased awards due to changes in civil law and related to hospital practice. General practice is lower risk and the risk of a pilot crashing is not even on the radar. In any case the insurance cost per medical is probably a pound
Changes in regulations may have an effect but your figures are excessive. Even if all the investigations demanded by some countries a few years back had been accepted, the increase would have been under £80 in the UK
There has been another thread about medical costs and I have posted the significant expenses an AME does incur, so there is no need to exaggerate these.
Doctors in the Uk have had to be fully insured for all medical care for many decades. Whilst the cost of insurance has risen it is primarily due to increased awards due to changes in civil law and related to hospital practice. General practice is lower risk and the risk of a pilot crashing is not even on the radar. In any case the insurance cost per medical is probably a pound
Changes in regulations may have an effect but your figures are excessive. Even if all the investigations demanded by some countries a few years back had been accepted, the increase would have been under £80 in the UK
There has been another thread about medical costs and I have posted the significant expenses an AME does incur, so there is no need to exaggerate these.
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Sadly your figures are way out, Radgirl. The MPS currently charge in excess of £3500 per year to indemnify AME work. These charges have increased by a factor of 600% over the last 6 years.
An AME would need to conduct 3500 medicals every year (!) for the cost of indemnity insurance to be £1 per medical as you suggest. The current cost of indemnity insurance alone is more like £30 per medical based on a more typical 120 medicals per year.
Not forgetting the substantial cost of annual appraisals, revalidation, GMC, membership of professional bodies, mandatory professional development etc. etc. that are ongoing (and ever increasing).
Money for old rope? Perhaps in the past. Nope, more like barely enough to cover one's costs these days.
An AME would need to conduct 3500 medicals every year (!) for the cost of indemnity insurance to be £1 per medical as you suggest. The current cost of indemnity insurance alone is more like £30 per medical based on a more typical 120 medicals per year.
Not forgetting the substantial cost of annual appraisals, revalidation, GMC, membership of professional bodies, mandatory professional development etc. etc. that are ongoing (and ever increasing).
Money for old rope? Perhaps in the past. Nope, more like barely enough to cover one's costs these days.
Thanks Tyred
If you read my other posts you will see I agree with you about the significant other costs of running an AME practice. This post was about insurance.
MPS and other organisations tailor their premiums to each specific doctor, and also to their volume or turnover. They look at the doctor's accounts and charge a proportion. Many AMEs only do this work part time and have other medical jobs. The amount you have quoted is much more than many pay but there is no standard rate. Indeed as a proportion of turnover it is more than much more risky specialties. There are also other new companies offering much lower premiums.
If you read my other posts you will see I agree with you about the significant other costs of running an AME practice. This post was about insurance.
MPS and other organisations tailor their premiums to each specific doctor, and also to their volume or turnover. They look at the doctor's accounts and charge a proportion. Many AMEs only do this work part time and have other medical jobs. The amount you have quoted is much more than many pay but there is no standard rate. Indeed as a proportion of turnover it is more than much more risky specialties. There are also other new companies offering much lower premiums.
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MPS and other organisations tailor their premiums to each specific doctor, and also to their volume or turnover. They look at the doctor's accounts and charge a proportion.
There are still only 3 indemnity providers of any size/repute in the UK. The one with the lowest premiums requires an applicant to have recently held an NHS consultant post in the specialty in which they intend to practice. Given that there are no NHS consultant posts in aviation medicine, that's not an option. If you know of any other providers, I'd be glad to hear of them!
I am afraid Tyred you have been caught by the strange premiums for occupational health. I know several other AMEs who have not! There are of course a number of new companies in the market and many doctors are moving over.
Anyhow, back on thread. The cost of being an AME is considerable and the prices charged for medicals IMHO are not unreasonable. However rumours of massive rises due to insurance or investigation hikes are just that.
Anyhow, back on thread. The cost of being an AME is considerable and the prices charged for medicals IMHO are not unreasonable. However rumours of massive rises due to insurance or investigation hikes are just that.
