renewal cycle difficulties
USHPA UPDATE
February 27, 2012
Pilot and Site Insurance Notice
Additional Requirements for Policy Renewal Requested by Underwriters
Attention All Chapter Officers:
USHPA has been in active negotiations with our insurers to renew our pilot and site insurance policy for the 2012-2013 period. Recent unusual claims against the policy involving spectator injuries have made this renewal cycle difficult. We have negotiated a three-month extension to provide enough time for us to address concerns expressed by our insurers, and implement new management practices to reduce the chance of future claims by spectators. The existing policy was set to expire as of Thursday, March 1st at 12:01am and has now been extended to June 1, 2012 under last year's terms and pricing.
Risk management will be the primary focus of the upcoming board meeting, and we'll have more information on the specific changes required in future newsletters to chapters and the general membership.
Insurance is the linchpin that keeps our flying sites open, whether they're insured sites or not. USHPA members are protected for damage they may do by accident as a result of their flying.
By clearly taking responsibility for our actions, we assure landowners and officials that they won't be left to pay for our mistakes. Loss of our insurance policy would shut down nearly all of our flying sites. We cannot let that happen.
Our insurer is requiring us to change the way we manage our flying sites, insured or not, to reduce the chance of an accident involving a non-pilot.
At a minimum, we'll need to conduct site evaluations and increase our education and training efforts in this area. Details are yet to be determined, so there's no need for immediate action on your part. We'll have more information for you after the board of directors meets in late March.
Insurance certificates will be issued by 3pm Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, February 28th with a June 1, 2012 expiration date. Please review these as soon as possible and notify the office about any errors so we can provide a corrected certificate before March 1st. Over the next three months we'll be working with our insurance agent to renew the policy for the full year period.
We'll keep you informed about the process by email.
This is serious stuff, but there's no need to panic. We expect to get a full renewal of the policy, but our premium will increase and we will be required to implement procedural changes to reduce spectator risks.
We have adequate cash reserves to cover the potential increase, and enough time to address the problem deliberately. No action is needed on your part at present, but we want you to be aware of what's happening and the path forward.
You have questions, I'm sure. We don't have all the answers yet, and we won't have them for awhile.
Contact your Regional Directors for further information, but bear in mind that we may not have a lot to tell you until after the upcoming board meeting in March. One easy take-away for right now though; keep spectators well away from launch and landing areas.
Working together we'll get through this. Thanks for all your work in support of our flying sites and chapters.
Mark G. Forbes
USHPA Insurance Committee Chairman
insurance@ushpa.aero
