Council impose extra insurance on a/c owners.

[vee-tail-1]

Many years of happy flying at Haverfordwest put at risk by new managers in the local council. :(

All aeroplane owners at EGFE have received a letter requiring them to carry Public Liability Insurance of at least £5,000,000. As most of us carry the legal minimum of £1,500,000 this will push up our insurance premiums somewhat. Also it raises the prospect of visitors to EGFE being required to show their insurance details and pay an extra fee as on military airfields.

We are currently forming a pilots association to query and perhaps fight this proposal.
Does anyone know of other GA airfields that require high public liability insurance?
We would like to get information on what is done at other airfields so as to fight our case.
Many thanks for any help.

[Ground Loop]

Scilly Isles

I believe that for departures on a Sunday between 15.00 and 16.00 hours 3million :-

The Airport is closed on a Sunday with the exception of a one hour departure only slot between 1500 and 1600. NB Any aircraft using this departure slot do so entirely at their own risk. There will be no ATC, fire cover or alerting service available. Pilots will be required to provide proof of insurance (£3 million third party cover minimum) and sign an indemnity form.

[2close]

Vee=tail-1,

What council sent this requirement out?

What department of that council?

Whose name is on the letter?


This has the potential to be very ironic!

[niknak]

Almost invariably this has been imposed upon the Council by their insurers, it happens all the time and is a just a money making exercise on behalf of the insurance industry.
I suspect a certain incident in Kent a couple of weeks ago has a lot to do with it.:rolleyes::hmm:

[vee-tail-1]

niknac, 2close, ground loop..thanks.
That makes more sense of this sudden demand for £5,000,000 ins cover.
The letter was sent by the airport supervisor, but he had been instructed to do so by Pembrokeshire Council Risk Assessor. Presumably the recent accidents and/or insurers may have frightened them.
Hope this is not going to be a new trend, as flying is already expensive enough.
This thread is on-going in the Flyer forum also.

[BroomstickPilot]

Has any reason been given for this new requirement?

If not, then I would suggest this needs to be the very first question.

Speaking as a retired ex senior local government officer, I doubt if this increase will have been imposed by the council's officers merely on the dictat of the Risk Assessor, at least not without the Risk Assessor explaining his/her reasons to the elected members or at least to the Director of Finance.

Surely, it must have been considered by elected members at some stage, either at Cabinet (if they operate a cabinet system) or in open committee. Either way, the minutes of whatever meeting handled the issue should be available for public scrutiny. All you have to do is to approach the Committee Section of the Chief Executive's Dept and ask to have sight of them.

If they are not made available, then apply to see them under the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Acts.

Once you know the reasons, you may find you have good reasons to contest the decision.

Good luck, Haverford West Guys. Nil Desperandum Carborundum Illegitimae!

Broomstick.

[west lakes]

Just a side thought by an interested observer.
It is likely it is Council insurance related, but ask yourself this, what would happen in the case of a claim, against you, in excess of the legal minimum?

When was that legal minimum figure set?
If some years ago it is an out dated figure based on some of the ridiculous claims we see in the press

I recently had to take out public liability insurance for a part time activity I do - the figure £2,000,000, it is not aviation related

No I'm not in the insurance industry I am what my profile says.

[SpeedbirdXK8]

For several years many councils have insisted on £5m public liability when using council owned land i.e. vintage car rally, balloon meet etc.

Another example is Silverstone, Ascot, Epsom (Derby) etc: for a helicopter to land they must indemnify the event organiser and land owner and have a minimum £10m Third Party (i.e. Public Liability) coverage. On certain policies such coverage is automatically included within the insurance policy and only comes into play during one the aforementioned events.

I suggest you speak with your broker and ask whether the coverage can automatically increase to £5m when flying into certain airfields in the same way Crown MOD Indemnity works. They are likely to ask where and how many times (roughly) the higher limit will required.

You pay your broker commission to work for you and if he doesn't then switch.

[Ken Wells]

Contact AOPA if you are not a member join!:D