Sensible advice to fellow helicopter pilots
Helinut has it right. The current environment in which we fly helicopters is, for all sorts of reasons, quite challenging.
When it comes to looking after yourself, one essential thing to do is to ensure that you are insured when you fly someone else's machine.
It is common for the so called deductible/excess/uninsured amount just for hull claims on a £1m machine to be £50k. I have seen it as high as 10% of the hull value. That can be a difficult conversation with the owner/operator after the fact.
When it comes to cover for passengers and third parties (in the air or on the ground), then make sure you as pilot are insured under the owner/operator policy - and that you are satisfied it is for enough cover. For a single/twin turbine (4/5 seats) with an AOC, normal cover in the UK/EU is usually for a policy around the £7.5-£10m mark.
As pilots, you should not be having to pay any additional premium, as it is normal practice that if the owner/operator approves you to fly the machine, then you are automatically covered to do so. If in doubt, then check the Tech Log for the Insurance Certificate next time.
So, the daily worrying problem is the hull excess in the event of e.g a hard landing, which few pilots can afford to fund themselves, and to which there is no obvious solution.
The insurance market in the UK for helicopters is a duopoly, where the many do not pay for the few.