The Left Seat
Is age just a number? Aviation insurance companies don’t think so.
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by Bob Worthington
Copyright 2021. All rights reserved!
s your age just a number as opposed to it being a definitive measure of your physical or mental abilities? Many individuals believe that just being 65 or 80 or 85 does not render one physically and intellectually diminished. But insurance companies do. Why? Insurance rates are based on broad factors of statistics, actuarial tables, Bob Worthington scientific data, and the probability of risk. So, each age of a pilot has an assigned risk factor based on considerable data to determine the risk covered and the cost (and the willingness of the company to insure that risk). In the February/March 2021 issue of Midwest Flyer Magazine, insurance agent Victoria Neuville, explained why aging aviators are seeing higher and higher insurance premiums. She did comment that older pilots tend to
have more accidents than younger pilots. As an aviation psychologist (and former FAA safety counselor), I have devoted time to researching getting older and flying, and how to remain a safe pilot when aging. There are ways to keep the cost of aircraft insurance lower than that of other fellow pilots and I can tell you what to do. First is to realize how the insurance industry operates. They expend considerable time and money analyzing what risks are involved and the statistical chance of an event or behavior occurring that will require them to pay out for a mishap. They must calculate the chance of something happening which will cost them money. The greater the risk involved and the higher the value of the plane, the higher the cost. Victoria covered why rates are increasing. Consider a brick home being insured that is half a block from a highly rated fire station and how long it would take for fire trucks and superior firefighters to get to your home, if on fire. Compare the insurance costs to a log cabin at the end of a mile dirt road, seven miles from a volunteer fire station. The exterior is more inflammable, the distance from firetrucks greater, and the fire crew less trained. Obviously, the risk for
APRIL/MAY 2021 MIDWEST FLYER MAGAZINE 17
