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hey who can i go threw to get renters insurance . Was told i really needed to look into it by flight school after a student trashed a set of main rotor blades and other parts. deductable was 40,000 for the student to pay.. :o

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hey who can i go threw to get renters insurance . Was told i really needed to look into it by flight school after a student trashed a set of main rotor blades and other parts. deductable was 40,000 for the student to pay.. :o

 

I got mine through AOPA. You have to be a member. I agree it is a god thing to have.

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I got mine through AOPA. You have to be a member. I agree it is a god thing to have.

 

You might want to read the fine print. I looked into it and was told they don't cover helicopters, especially student training. As the for 40K deductible, generally insurance deductible is 10% blades in motion. Without knowing what type helicopter, it is hard to make an informed comment. However, my first impression is that based on standard training helicopters, $400K damage seems way too high. That total sounds like a totaled helicopter. If it was blades and inspections, it sounds like the school may not have any hull insurance.

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you are right blades were only the first thing that was destroyed it was a completely messed up ship . i went to aopa and seen somthing in notes about not covering helicopters. thatss why i posted on here .. :(

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You might want to read the fine print. I looked into it and was told they don't cover helicopters, especially student training. As the for 40K deductible, generally insurance deductible is 10% blades in motion. Without knowing what type helicopter, it is hard to make an informed comment. However, my first impression is that based on standard training helicopters, $400K damage seems way too high. That total sounds like a totaled helicopter. If it was blades and inspections, it sounds like the school may not have any hull insurance.

 

They carry it as a seprate policy from the usual program they offer. You have to call and request it specificly. I had to go through a couple of people before I was able to find someone with a clue. I had a friend who had a policy he got through AOPA so I knew I just needed to find the right person. They might have stopped the practice since I last signed up. I haven't looked into it in a while.

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They carry it as a seprate policy from the usual program they offer. You have to call and request it specificly. I had to go through a couple of people before I was able to find someone with a clue. I had a friend who had a policy he got through AOPA so I knew I just needed to find the right person. They might have stopped the practice since I last signed up. I haven't looked into it in a while.

 

 

i was just trying to make sure my butt is covered before i get to solo and into all the fun auto's .. I am not wanting to leave anything to chance. Thanks for the info permison.. I was planning on calling and getting more details just got worried when i seen the message saying helicopters not covered..

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i was just trying to make sure my butt is covered before i get to solo and into all the fun auto's .. I am not wanting to leave anything to chance. Thanks for the info permison.. I was planning on calling and getting more details just got worried when i seen the message saying helicopters not covered..

 

Let me see if I can find the name of the person I spoke with last.

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AIG offers the insurance, AOPA's insurance agency can sell it, if you find someone there who knows about it.

 

Any aviation insurance agency can offer it, we have several students who carry such a policy. It is expensive however to have any real coverage.

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Still would be cheaper to pay a yearly prem than to have to pay for damages out of pocket... Yea aig bailout means we all will be paying some prem without coverage lol

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Hey everyone called and talked to them. They said they dont really quote rates till you are ready to solo . So i asked the ours they have for solo she said 50 hr solo. 50 for a first solo would seem a bit extreme being 40 hrs is min for ppl i hope to have my ppl by 50hrs.. she aid for 15 hrs probly be 2100 a year prem. :o

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You can get the policy from day one of training, but it will cost you a lot...

 

AOPA really isn't the agency to use for this, talk to your school, they should be able to help you (if not, shame on them). We get our students who want it the policy with our own agency that is well versed in helicopter policies, takes all of a day or three to get done.

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Here is something I was quoted last year with a contact as well. Not sure if she is still there but it will get you started in the right direction. An above poster is correct, AOPA is just an agent. Here is the general AOPA insurance email address, but you do need to be a member. But its not very expensive and I like the magazine even though its more for plank drivers.

 

Let us know what you find out when you get a reply or any information.

 

Here is the email for the the insurance department at AOPA: aopaia@aopaia.com

------------------------------------------

To get even a quote on the roto wing we will need to fill out an

application and fax it to the underwriters, but I can give you a rough

estimate on where they start out at. $250,000 of liability (that covers

what you hit and who you hit and passangers in the plane) starts out at

$335 a year. And damage to the plane it's self coverage starts out at

$10,000 worth for about $500.00 a year. You have to have liability to get

air craft damage. So, have the least on the limits it starts out at about

$835.00 a year. If you need to know more just let us know. Thanks

 

 

Jennifer Collier

Customer Service Representative

AOPA Insurance Agency, Inc.

P. O. Box 9170

Wichita, KS 67277

Phone: 1-800-622-2672

Fax: 316-942-0091

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The liability coverage is a bit more than that now, but not much... The benefit to that coverage is not the $250K, it is the defence that they will pay for on your behalf. Considering the low price, that should tell you something about how low this risk is.

 

The $10K of hull coverage isn't much, that wouldn't cover a single blade on the R-22, much less any real damage... Keep in mind that they are charging more for $10K of hull than for $250K of liability, so the real risk is in damaging the aircraft.

 

If you're bothering with your own insurance, keep in mind that the flight school insurance will pay off the school, and then may well come after you for the full value of the helicopter, if you have deep pockets (the reason to get this in the first place), so even having $25K or $50K may simply not do you that much good, depending on what you're flying.

 

Also, keep in mind that you cannot insure every risk in life, you'd go broke trying. If you are not the type of person who has $500K of liability insurance on your car or an umbrella liability policy, you probably don't need this.

 

Should an accident occur, you're unlikely to be the deepest pocket involved, you are more likely to get a free pass in exchange for your help at trial or settlement. Then again, I'm not a lawyer and this isn't legal advice, so don't listen to me. :D

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Don't worry about the renter's insurance until AFTER you get your Private and are truely a "renter." Right now, anything you do is strictly "supervised solo". If you bend or break something, it's going to be very tough for the flight school to blame you since you are their student. "They didn't train you properly and this is why this happened, correct?" says your lawyer. Now, if you're out flying intoxicated or flying outside of the limitations placed on your solo endorsement, they may have a case, but since you wouldn't *knowingly* do either, you don't have to worry.

 

When you truely become a renter, I wouldn't waste you money on this insurance either, unless you are going to be doing a LOT of flying, in a LOT of different aircraft, and at location that you did NOT do your training at. Either way, they're going to do an insurance check flight with you, so they're signing off on your ability to fly their aircraft. If any kind of emergency occurs due to a mechanical failure, you can't be expected to pay for that damage that resulted in your subsequent emergency landing.

 

As long as you follow the rules and fly that helicopter in a safe, responsible manner you do not need that insurance. Like another poster said, if you bought insurance for everything in life you could F'up, you're going to be broke and will no longer be able to afford things to F'up! Think about all the money you've spent on auto/home/life/health insurance over the years......how much cool stuff could you have bought? I hate insurance--I've got a ton of it-- but you're placing a bet on something bad happening to you. Either way, you lose.

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Don't worry about the renter's insurance until AFTER you get your Private and are truely a "renter." Right now, anything you do is strictly "supervised solo". If you bend or break something, it's going to be very tough for the flight school to blame you since you are their student.

 

Two points...

 

First, I don't know that anyone you hit on the ground is going to much care what the flight school thinks.

 

Second, if you cause an accident while PIC, you're responsible. Solo student or ATP, same responsibility.

 

"They didn't train you properly and this is why this happened, correct?" says your lawyer.

 

This assumes you can afford a lawyer, one of the many things insurance pays for.

 

When you truely become a renter, I wouldn't waste you money on this insurance either, unless you are going to be doing a LOT of flying, in a LOT of different aircraft, and at location that you did NOT do your training at. Either way, they're going to do an insurance check flight with you, so they're signing off on your ability to fly their aircraft.

 

Again, not so fast... An "insurance checkout" doesn't mean much actually, it really just verifies that you can in fact fly the helicopter. It does not absolve you of anything.

 

Also, keep in mind that you have not just the school to worry about, but the insurance company coming after you to collect for whatever they had to pay out. Doesn't happen often, but if you have deep pockets or you did something stupid, it can.

 

As long as you follow the rules and fly that helicopter in a safe, responsible manner you do not need that insurance.

 

If you have nothing worth going after, that is true. If you do have something worth going after, you might want to think about that. Should you have to make an off airport landing and cause damage or injury on the ground, you might well need your own insurance.

 

I get asked this question often from students, generally I tell those who have money to get the liability coverage and skip the hull coverage. That's just my opinion in any case...

 

Fly Safe!

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I tend to agree with Delorean on this one. Renters insurance buys you piece of mind, nothing more. If you do feel that you need renters insurance, I would take Jehh’s advice and only get the liability coverage. If you have really deep pockets, Selfinsure. Even with renters insurance, their legal department isn’t concerned with looking out for you. They are looking out for themselves. You may still need to hire an attorney to represent you.

I think you are better off purchasing the AOPA legal service plan. It cost a lot less, and in my mind offers you a lot more.

 

Just my .02

 

Fly Safe

Clark B)

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Superman,

 

If you pay for renters insurance, they have a fiduciary duty to defend you and attempt to settle within the policy limits. If they do not act in good faith, they open themselves up to being liable for a lot more than the policy limits.

 

Insurance is a highly regulated product with a lot of consumer protections. If you spend $500 to obtain $250,000 of coverage, and you get sued, the insurance company is going to try their best to settle any claims within that limit. They can't even simply tender the $250,000 and wash their hands of it, as that would not be doing what is in your best interest.

 

I do agree with you on the legal services plan, that is a bargin every day of the week and twice on Sunday. :D

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The AOPA legal services plan is indeed a good plan for basic matters, but it does not fully cover you depending how far you go with a FAA enforcement. I know someone that fought something all the way through the US Court of Appeals.

 

He spent $120,000 to win, and the AOPA Legal plan covered about $18,000 of it. They covered most of the initial hearing costs, a limited amount of the NTSB appeal, and none of the US Court of Appeals. They also cap the attorney's hourly rate, which is well below what most good aviation attorney's now charge.

 

Now the FAA did reimburse the guy for $60-some thousand dollars for legal fees because they also cap the attorney's max fees. Did he really "win" in the end.......no. Fifteen months without certificates and about $35K not to have something on his record.

 

I have the plan and I'm not knocking it, but it isn't bullet proof and can only help you clear up minor stuff without any more out of pocket expenses.

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That is a good point, but then nothing in life is fool-proof...

 

I figure that if nothing else, it gives me someone to call in the event I ever get a love letter from our friends at the FAA. That alone would make it worth 10 years of paying $52.

 

Fly Safe!

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Hi there,

 

I wanted to add my 2 cents in there as a school owner.

 

Our school carries a seperate policy for the students.

 

It has 1 million in liability and 100,000 per occurence for Medical, and is basically a mirror policy to the helicopter policy.

 

It covers the students in case someone tries to sue them personally for an incident or accident. This is in addition to the coverage they have with the Helicopter Policy.

 

The cost is $500 a year to the school, which to me is a small price to pay fro trying to protect your students and your business.

 

As for Rotor Insurance through AOPA, that must be new, because they have not offered it in the past.

 

I would suggest calling Joel Heining from Wings Insurance. www.wingsinsurance.com

(952) 942-8800

 

He sits on the HAI Insurance advisory board, and is a dual rated former army pilot. He has saved us alot of money on insurance, and knows the industry like no other.

 

As to the 40k, sounds like someone got ripped off. Our policy states that a student is only responsible for the deductible if you were doing something against policy and procedure, like doing Auto's by yourself. Other than that, if you stay within the guidelines, you're covered.

 

Feel free to contact me direct if you have any questions.

 

Chris Gadbois

SRT Helicopters

1550 Skyway Drive Ste 209

Bakersfield, Ca. 93308

www.srthelo.com

(661) 393-4567

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