Hangarkeepers Liability Insurance

[long tall texan]

Just a quickie....just suppose theoretically you are renting one space at a dual space hangar owned by local council at your local aerodrome.

 

Is the onus on you to pay for the hangarkeepers insurance or the owner of the hangar?

 

 

[poteroo]

Just a quickie....just suppose theoretically you are renting one space at a dual space hangar owned by local council at your local aerodrome.Is the onus on you to pay for the hangarkeepers insurance or the owner of the hangar?

When the owner is leasing the block, but owns the hangar - then they provide hangarkeepers insurance because they assume the liabilities when your aircraft is inside.

 

What happens if the hangar 'owner' is also the local Council - I'm not sure. Probably is their responsibility if you are renting the space, but a Council probably has some sort of 'umbrella' coverage of all its' properties. Ask them.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Look at what is likely to go wrong and who has the duty of care.

 

If sub standard bolts have been used on the hangar the owner and builder most likely will be paying. If you fit A sub standard battery and it burns the place down injuring a caretaker they are probably going to come after you etc.

 

 

[Jaba-who]

Hangar keepers liability insurance is a slight misnomer. It covers aircraft and/or public liability.

 

We have it for our hangar and have got the broker to outline exactly what it really means because it seemed like we were paying for something we did not need. ( because we don't let anyone else keep their aircraft in our hangar so why would we need it?) We get a new policy every year and the broker gets the best deal from whomever and we have had about three or four different insurers over the last ten years and they have all had the same coverage.

 

So what does it cover?

 

Part 1 covers the OWNER of the Hangar from claims of damage to other people's aircraft that are stored in the hangar. ( we do not have this part)

 

I was under the impression ( but could be wrong) You cannot take out hangarkeepers insurance unles you own the hangar because the liability for other people's property lies with the person providing the hangar space.

 

It excludes any aircraft owned by the policy holder/hangar owner.

 

Part 2 covers claims of injury to persons who are inside the hangar. This is the misnomer bit because it's just personal injury/public liability but with a more expensive twist.

 

Its the same as if the hanger was not a hangar but was say a clubhouse or storage shed etc. doesn't have to have an aircraft in it. But this is the kicker - because it's located on an airfield the policy wording makes out that there is an added risk from being located on an airfield so the premium is higher than if that same building were say a couple of blocks away outside the airfield precinct.

 

It does not cover damage to the hangar itself - specifically excluded and for cover to this we have a seperate building cover policy.

 

Liability for damage (by someone who does not own the hangar) to someone else's property would have to be covered by some other insurance - I would have thought standard aircraft insurance would cover damage to other aircraft caused by a fault in your aircraft ( eg battery catching fire etc provided your policy had a clause covering it. My normal aircraft policy does have cover for damage while on the ground (different clauses for engine running or engine not running)

 

But what it does not cover is if you personally ( unassociated with your aircraft caused damage to someone else's property. Hard to think of a scenario but say you lit up a smoke and someone's aircraft caught fire, or maybe you leaned on someone's rag and tube and put your hand through the skin. But I doubt you could get any insurer to cover you for that if you don't actually have some form of formal responsibility toward the aircraft owner. But that would be same for anyone who was visiting etc and who didn't own an aircraft there. You would not expect them to get an insurance policy before they would be allowed to visit or enter the hangar while a guest.

 

If they did it would be up them to make good on repairs etc and if not you'd have to sue them.

 

 

[facthunter]

When I've insured a plane I've split it into ground and flight situations. If someone somehow caused damage to your plane it would then be covered and the insurer would go after whoever caused it I would expect, but that's not your problem.. I wouldn't operate without some form of insurance. It's too risky I've always had good insurance with aircraft and very reputable companies. You must be careful who you do it with. I can't give any current advice as I don't have any planes now. Thankfully.. Well that's not quite true. The addiction is never conquered fully... Nev