Am I ‘Covered’ Flying an Aircraft I Don't Own?

Insurance brokers are routinely asked the question, “Am I covered?” 

This question is particularly relevant when you’re operating an aircraft you do not own but are approved by the aircraft owner’s insurer to fly/operate. 

A non-owned aircraft is defined quite simply as an aircraft (fixed wing or rotorcraft) that you have no ownership interest in—either in whole or in part. 

So, an aircraft you may borrow from a friend or even fly as part of your training with a flight school would qualify as a non-owned aircraft. 

There are currently many products available in the market for non-owned/renter’s insurance—some of the more noteworthy are underwritten by Starr, Global Aerospace, AVEMCO, Stargate and Skywatch. 

Direct writers of the non-owned product are AVEMCO, Skywatch, and Stargate—which means no broker is needed; you are actually buying the product directly from the insurer.

Generally speaking, non-owned coverage is readily available for fixed and rotor wing piston SEL and MEL aircraft (and seaplanes) by all the aforementioned underwriting carriers. 

Some insurers may have limitations on certain aircraft classes (i.e., seaplanes and/or rotorcraft), as not all non-owned insurers will cover all types of non-owned exposures. 

Non-owned insurance for turbine and/or pressurized aircraft is very challenging to come by—hardly any carriers in the space will write policies for non-owned aircraft that are turbine/pressurized. There are some exceptions, however.

Non-owned insurance is typically the least expensive aviation insurance product sold and is intended to ‘cover’ the non-aircraft owner for losses which might be due to their negligence or even losses which occur due to no fault of the renter or pilot of the non-owned aircraft. 

Policies can be purchased with hull and liability coverage, or just liability only—you cannot purchase non-owned hull insurance by itself. The hull coverage and liability coverage limits available differ by insurer and the products in the marketplace. 

However, pricing between insurers is typically very similar. Non-owned hull can be placed up to $750K, and non-owned liability at limits around $1M (again depending on your specific insurer’s product offerings). 

It’s encouraged that if you’re flying a rental aircraft via a flight school, for instance, that you carefully review the school’s formal rental agreement. 

Rental agreements will usually specify what limit of non-owned coverage the school requires to be carried. 

Most flight schools either mandate or strongly recommend the renter has non-owned aircraft insurance. At a minimum, it should cover the flight school’s aircraft physical damage deductible. 

The non-owned insurance that you purchase will also allow coverages for physical damage of the rental/non-owned aircraft up to the hull insurance limits you purchase. 

The liability limit you purchase will protect you (the policyholder) with respect to liability claims up to the occurrence and passenger liability limits on your policy. 

The flight school and/or aircraft owner’s policy will cover the school/aircraft owner at the policy limits on the primary policy in place. 

You can think of non-owned insurance as secondary insurance to the flight school’s own insurance policy but solely in favor of the renter and/or pilot flying a non-owned aircraft.

End state is that non-owned insurance is an insurance product you do not want to go without when you are operating an aircraft that you do not own. 

Otherwise, you may be liable for damages to the aircraft and/or liabilities related to property damage or bodily injury to third parties. 

Always discuss your flying-related exposures with an insurance professional to gain insight on what insurance products you need to have in place to adequately cover your liabilities should there be a loss.