Avemco Cuts Rates, Expands Coverage

Aviation insurance underwriter Avemco says it’s able to loosen its corporate tie and undo the top button of its shirt when it comes to some new types of airplanes. Executive Vice President Jim Lauerman said at EAA AirVenture that rates for Columbia, Cirrus and certain Diamond and homebuilt aircraft will be reduced, as will the experience requirements for those transitioning to more advanced and complex aircraft. He said insurance companies necessarily take a conservative approach to insuring new aircraft until they have enough data to accurately determine loss rates. In this case, the loss data wasn’t as bad as the company assumed and the rates can be adjusted. The company is also making passenger liability insurance available on one category of homebuilts and allowing liability claims from family members in cases where another family member’s negligence is involved. Avemco has also been writing insurance for light sport aircraft and is building a data base on those types of claims. Lauerman said the participation of Cessna and Cirrus is part of the “maturity of the marketplace that we’re ready for.” Avemco continues to support human-factors studies on the personality traits that might place some pilots at higher risk for accidents than others. The Airmanship Education Research Initiative will compare the traits of safe, professional pilots with those of more accident-prone pilots. “It’s an attempt to quantify the traits of good and bad pilots,” he said.