My home airport, KHEF has a liability requirement and requires the airport to be listed as additional insured. I think it is $1m per incident. Not sure about the amount because that was what I already had on my plane. All I had to do was get them listed as additional insured. I slow rolled them on that for a couple of years as the hangar agreement only said I had to have insurance, not that the airport was additional. The airport manager said the requirement was an legal interpretation of the city counsel. I chose to follow the notion that a legal opinion is not legally binding. Eventually they amended the rental contract and I added the airport with my next insurance renewal. It didn't cost any more to add the airport. I was just being curmudgeonly about it.
as I alluded to before, what the airport thinks they are covered for and what the insurance company will actually pay may be two different things. I had a similar policy and the more I dug the more I found that the airport/municipality was not covered to the extent they thought they were getting. a lot of ignorance on the part of the municipalities regarding how much this type of policy protects them. it is a "fashionable" policy that more are jumping on the bandwagon because they think it is the right thing for them.
That actually makes me feel a little better about it. I did not like the idea that my insurance would cover an accident at the airport where the airport was at least partly at fault.
It appears there is a growing wave across the country of municipalities growing skittish about being in the aviation business. Increasingly, these type of insurance policies are being demanded. Note this is NOT aviation insurance. This is hangar insurance. We had our insurance companies review the new lease agreement and they advised that if we signed the lease, it would invalidate the aviation insurance. They are willing to sell hangar insurance for an additional fee.
Read your aviation policy carefully - or talk to you agent.
This is a growing problem and we need EAA/AOPA to help!
I read my policy very carefully. Then I called my agent with a list of questions.....most of which she had no idea. After talking to the underwriter, she was still not clear on what is covered. I thought it was aviation insurance, and it might be, but mostly (I think) it is hangar insurance. I asked the municipality what they think is covered. No idea. I asked them why they require it.....they said because their insurer told them to require it. I still have no clear idea of what these policies cover. Concur, I would appreciate EAA/AOPA taking a look at this.
Its easy to understand why municipalities want high hangar liability limits. If you're in a row of hangars, whats in the other hangars? My hangar is in a row of 18 (nine back to back). If the average cost of the planes is $50,000 (that's probably way low) and something I do catches the hangars on fire, my exposure is $900,000. I grind, weld, drill, etc in my hangar. Although a fire is not likely, it a very real possibility. I guaranty, with each hangar having 20 - 100 gallons of 100LL inside, if a fire starts its not stopping. I think hangar liability is probably more important than liability coverage on your plane.