LRingeisen
Well Known Member
We have a lot of people ask us what the difference is between liability and medical payments. Because insurance can be confusing, we wanted to give a little clarification between the two.
Medical coverage is simple. It is for small instances for you or your passenger, whether you are liable or not. Example: if you bump your head while landing and need stitches.
The Bodily Injury and Property Damage category is your liability insurance. Let?s say you have a $1,000,000/$100,000 policy (minimum amount that we recommend), the $1,000,000 is per occurrence and the $100,000 would be per passenger. Example: If there was an accident and your plane went down and hit part of a building and a pedestrian, you would have a total of $1,000,000 to cover the accident. The pedestrian and the building would receive amounts determined by the insurance company/court up to $1,000,000. If the passengers in the aircraft were injured as well, the amount paid (up to $100,000 each passenger limit) comes from that $1,000,000 as well. (Side note: if you are ever offered a ?per person? policy, the pedestrian would be limited to the $100,000. Gallagher Aviation does not offer these policies.).
Most companies now offer the option of increasing your passenger coverage to $200,000 compared to the standard $100,000. There are 2 companies that will even offer ?$1,000,000 Smooth? for Vans now. That means your passenger can collect up to the $1,000,000 limit which is a lot more in line with a typical lawsuit than $100,000. We always suggest taking the higher liability option if you are able to. The more liability coverage you have, the less likely someone is to come after your personal assets.
Please keep in mind that all claims are handled on a case-by-case basis
Medical coverage is simple. It is for small instances for you or your passenger, whether you are liable or not. Example: if you bump your head while landing and need stitches.
The Bodily Injury and Property Damage category is your liability insurance. Let?s say you have a $1,000,000/$100,000 policy (minimum amount that we recommend), the $1,000,000 is per occurrence and the $100,000 would be per passenger. Example: If there was an accident and your plane went down and hit part of a building and a pedestrian, you would have a total of $1,000,000 to cover the accident. The pedestrian and the building would receive amounts determined by the insurance company/court up to $1,000,000. If the passengers in the aircraft were injured as well, the amount paid (up to $100,000 each passenger limit) comes from that $1,000,000 as well. (Side note: if you are ever offered a ?per person? policy, the pedestrian would be limited to the $100,000. Gallagher Aviation does not offer these policies.).
Most companies now offer the option of increasing your passenger coverage to $200,000 compared to the standard $100,000. There are 2 companies that will even offer ?$1,000,000 Smooth? for Vans now. That means your passenger can collect up to the $1,000,000 limit which is a lot more in line with a typical lawsuit than $100,000. We always suggest taking the higher liability option if you are able to. The more liability coverage you have, the less likely someone is to come after your personal assets.
Please keep in mind that all claims are handled on a case-by-case basis
