Recently many COPA members have been
complaining to COPA that they have received a strange mail-out from an aviation
insurance broker in B.C. The mail-out contains a “Special Note to COPA Members”
that many COPA members have found offensive or at least confusing. Some members
wondered where the insurer got their address and thought perhaps COPA sold the
list to them.
COPA has not provided its membership list to this insurance broker – COPA’s
membership lists are not for sale! It is a pretty safe guess to say “Dear COPA
Member” to any aircraft owner in Canada, since the majority of aircraft owners
in Canada are COPA members!
The special note says that the COPA Aviation Insurance Program has been
suffering some “turmoil” and that the plan’s “primary underwriter Tryg-Baltica
International, has stopped writing aviation business worldwide and the program
is seeking a new underwriter.”
This is true but it is not the whole story. The note then goes on to say that
the writer would like to “direct your attention to a deeper issue that is the
underlying cause of the current situation.” It then explains that “insurance
companies need to charge enough in premiums to pay for all the claims and its
administrative costs – and still have something left over in order to make a
profit.”
This is also true, but is being interpreted by some members that the COPA
insurance program has suffered because it wasn’t charging enough money. This is
not true.
Some COPA members interpret the statements as saying that our program is broke,
has no underwriter for 2004 or is just too inexpensive to survive.
In fact COPA’s insurance plan has been placed with Lloyds of London for 2004
with no interruption of service to COPA members.
Our COPA Group Insurance Plan is the Silver Wings plan, which continues to offer
COPA members insurance at prices that other insurance companies cannot match.
Silver Wings insurance rates have gone up 15 per cent over 2003, but are still
15 per cent less than the Silver Wings Rates were in 2001.
Our Gold Wings rates continue to be competitive with other aviation insurance
programs available in Canada.
Did our previous underwriter quit because the rates were too low to make money,
as is alleged in the note? The answer is clearly “no.” COPA’s insurance program
has been on very stable financial footing for many years, turning in a financial
performance that is the envy of the industry.
That is why we had no problem attracting a new underwriter in record time for
our 2004 program.
In fact our previous underwriter decided to terminate all their international
insurance programs and the COPA program, although profitable for them, was a
small part of that portfolio. The COPA program continues to offer good rates for
our members and also to make good money for the insurance companies involved.
Are COPA members simply a lower risk than non-COPA member pilots? We have no
data to indicate that, but we do know that all the other aviation insurance
programs in Canada charge far more money for the same coverage that we provide
under Silver Wings. Draw your own conclusions about why that might be.
COPA always advises members to shop around for aviation insurance. That is how
we encourage competition and keep prices low. Do get quotes from all the
underwriters currently in the Canadian market (Global Aerospace Underwriters,
Canadian Aircraft Insurance Group, Lloyds of London and Aviation Insurance
Management (AIM)) from any aviation insurance broker and then compare the
coverage you get versus the price you pay.
Get the facts and avoid insurance representatives that may not be telling the
whole story to try to get your business. COPA advises you to buy the coverage
that gives you, as an aircraft owner, the best value for your money.