USA Renters insurance

[Aeronut]

Anyone know of a good deal for annual renters insurance in USA?

I'm trying to better this deal:

https://www.avemco.com/insuranceproducts/Non-owned/noliability.asp#AviatorRates1

[B2N2]

You can try through AOPA or via AIG, but the above rates are some of the best (lowest) that I have seen.

[windy1]

Aircraft damage liability figures look very low starting at $1000?
For UK car insurance, you have to insure the total value of the vehicle, not just the cost of the damage you want to be covered for.
But the Avemco table suggests you pay according to the amount of damage you want to cover yourself for. A very different principle.
.........and if you hire a £150,000 Cessna but only pay for $5000 cover, you have to hope you only have a very minor incident?

[Aeronut]

Thanks for the replies,

Yes, Windy, you have highlighted my exact concern.

You only have to, say, hit a runway light to render $25,000 worth of damage!!
No doubt the school would hit you with other claims such as loss of eanings whilst the aircraft was repaired.

[B2N2]

Aircraft damage liability is there to cover the insurance deductible the renter is responsible for, NOT the total damage to the aircraft.
Example: You rent a fairly new airplane with a insurance deductible of $5000.
You damage it to the extent of $25,000.
You will be asked to pay the $5000 deductible as the insurance company (of the school or FBO) takes care of the remaining $20,000.
If you have renter's insurance for aircraft liability for the amount of $2,500 you would still have to pay the remaining amount out of pocket.
No doubt the school would hit you with other claims such as loss of eanings whilst the aircraft was repaired.
I doubt that very much, but to be sure actually READ their renter's " terms and conditions" and ask questions before you sign it.
The cool thing about having your own renter's insurance is that you are covered for an entire year for the whole USA.
So you are not dependant on a scheme that the school or FBO might have cooked up.

[Cusco]

B2N2 has it right:
Regard Renter's insurance as similar to Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) insurance that you can pay when you rent a car: it covers the excess over the full policy cover (which would be covered by the aircraft's hull insurance)
that you would be asked to pay if you had a dink.The cover premium you pay will depend on the Hull insurance excess: you could find this out from the FBO before you hire an a/c if you wanted to be safe .

In my case I got $5.000.00 renter's cover (plus third party injury cover: forget how much) for about $120.00 and it turned out to be money well spent.

There are a few other things to consider:

Some Renter's insurance companies will not cover you if you don't have either a US address or a US bank account:you can sometimes get round (legally) the address problem by using (with their permission) the address of the FBO you are renting from.

Some FBOs indeed do have a clause whereby you would be liable to compensate them for loss of income while any dinked a/c is laid up: check that this is covered.

Also make sure you have a copy of the agreement you sign: it's not automatic to get one and can be a problem if you need to sort stuff out after you get back to UK

Finally DO NOT RENT IN USA without renter's insurance unless you have a very deep pocket or unlimited disposable income.

Enjoy
Cusco:ok:

[windy1]

Sorry to sound a bit negative but the USA is a very litiginous place and there is always the possibility that regardless of the FBO's coverage, the Insurers could come back at you under the principle of subrogation, if (a) they believed they could nail you as partially or fully liable and (b) you had some worthwhile assets to have a go at, eg your house.

The US Magazine " Flying " did a very thought-provoking article on this some time back, but for all us holiday flyers, you have to accept some risk in this particular area or you would deny yourself the great flying experiences which are on offer.

The situation may be different if you are on a training programme as most of the time the instructor will be P1 so you won't be exposed to that kind of milarkey.

[Aeronut]

Thanks for highlighting that very relevant point B2N2 and also to CUSCO for those words. I had overlooked that.

I will now need to establish what risk remains with my particular school.

Thanks

'nut

[Cuillin]

When I contacted Avemco they insisted that you had a US address - rental school was not even acceptable.

I, subsequently, contacted US AOPA (Insurance) and they were quite happy to use the rental school address (with their permission). Very similar prices charged.

Download this form

http://www.aopaia.com/forms/Renters_Brochure.pdf

and fax it to them and they will forward the paperwork to the school.

Agreed that it is absolutely essential for flying in the US.

More details on the AOPA website

http://www.aopaia.com/renters_start.cfm

[B2N2]

"Terms and conditions" should look something like this:
http://www.eaa-fly.com/2.0/pdf/TermsAndConditions.pdf