FNG
Can you elaborate on exactly who is liable?
My understanding is that the pilot and the owner (or operator?) are liable jointly and severally, in all cases, and that while the liability to passengers relies on establishing negligence, the liability to everybody else is strict.
This suggests that a ltd. co. would never protect the pilot, i.e. would never protect the owner if he was PIC at the time. So owning a plane via a ltd co is pointless if the owner of the whole operation is the only pilot. (The advantages on other fronts, e.g. VAT treatment, are lost if there is only one pilot)
The situation where "groups" have been concerned about liability is where they are a formal partnership, as some syndicates are. The reason why there is so much folklore in this area is no doubt because in most cases the insurance simply pays out, and where there are problems, the people affected don't advertise it!