Hi Echo,
You are right to be confused because I do not think that the traditional insurance providers have made aircraft cover very clear (the cynic might suggest the complexity helps justify their existence and cost)!
So first let’s have a quick bit of background info. In the EU, aircraft owners and operators must legally have in place at least a minimum amount of insurance against their potential liabilities for loss, damage or injury to third parties which might arise from the flying of their aircraft. Passengers are not regarded as third parties, so if the aircraft has passenger seats then there is also a legal minimum cover requirement in respect of the owner’s potential passenger liabilities. There are other rules for cargo and baggage but let’s leave them aside.
The law only specifies
minimum levels of cover that must be in place, and these vary based on factors such as the aircraft’s maximum take-off weight, number of passenger seats and type of use. To check the minimum cover you need, the CAA
website provides a useful calculator.
As the article states, owners should consider arranging a higher level of cover than the minimum because if you are responsible for an accident which results in damages that are greater than the cover you hold, you (or your estate) will be liable to pay the difference.
The details you have shown look like a fairly standard insurance schedule, and based on this it looks like you do not have a combined single limit as described in the article. Instead it looks like you have separate limits of up to £3.5m cover for third party liability and £125,000 cover for passenger liability.
Thus if you injure a third party in an accident for which you are responsible (e.g. you hit a pedestrian while taxiing without looking) then the maximum payable for your liability would be the £3.5 million. If you have an accident and a passenger is injured then the maximum amount payable for such liability is £125,000. The policy booklet that came with your schedule should provide a precise definition of the cover provided.
The bit down the bottom of your post illustrates my point about things being made more complex than they need be. Most insurance policies exclude ‘war risks’ but the convention in aircraft policies is to include war risks as far as the liability cover is concerned. It does this by adding the AVN 52E clause to your policy wording, so the blurb down the bottom just explains the liability limits for these war risks.
I cannot give you advice on what level of cover to buy or the FCA will come after me with a big stick! However I believe a combined single limit is usually the best solution for more GA owners, and the £125,000 limit on passengers looks very low in the context of the content of the article. I would definitely suggest you ask your broker why he has not offered you a CSL as that might be the most cost effective way of ensuring a higher level of protection.
[No advertising in the forums - mods]
Cheers