Whenever you serve other people, you end up having a liability concerning the people and their belongings affected by your services. Common law, common practice and of course, common sense. In aviation, the liabilities are clearly defined by international rules, which are in force in all of the civilized world. That makes things simpler. The complicity comes from the know-how of each insurance company to apply the rules to each individual case and their ability to handle such cases in general. Again, can’t recommend easier solution than having us to help you sort this out. Just for the sake of main principles, we list out the most common forms of liabilities you might have if practicing aviation, either as a hobby or as a profession.
Statutory third party liability
Compulsory insurance to cover losses to outsiders happening because you use your aircraft. Sadly, often the pilot or otherwise responsible person is not with us any more after major accidents, therefore an insurance company must be engaged to handle losses to innocent ones concerning accidents. With an aircraft you can cause bigger losses than you ever could pay back, which also suggests that an insurance policy is a good thing to have on a compulsory basis.
Statutory Passengers Legal Liability
Another compulsory insurance to cover liabilities arising from accepting passengers onboard your aircraft. This is supposed to cover any injuries to passengers and damages to their accompanying baggage, including also other bad incidents even to passengers’ clothes.
Seat Accident Liability
This insurance is voluntary but recommended. It covers injuries to passengers and also pilots and crew. Insurance includes the time of boarding, flight and leaving the aircraft.
Freight Liability
As with any freight carrier, be it a truck, ship or airplane, there is an insurance to cover carriers’ liability concerning the freight they carry. Naturally, it does not replace decent cargo insurance, unless the cargo value per kg is very low.