Air travel insurance

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An air travel insurance is an accident insurance that the financial consequences of an air accident safeguards.

Terms

(Statutory) accident insurance as a specific form of insurance is intended to prevent accidents at work, occupational diseases and work-related health hazards and, after the occurrence of accidents at work or occupational diseases, restore the health and productivity of the insured by all appropriate means.

Air travel insurance (also known as air travel accident insurance or air travel cover) is a special private accident insurance policy that protects air passengers (as policyholders) against the financial consequences of an air accident ( plane crash , collision, take-off or landing accident). Then there are the risks that arise from the threat of terrorism. The core service of air travel insurance aims to provide financial protection for travelers and their legal heirs in the event of permanent impairment of physical or mental performance (disability) or death as a consequence of an air accident.

History of Aviation Insurance

The first aviation insurance was introduced in the early years of the 20th century. These were offered by Lloyd's of London in 1911. The company changed its business policy in 1912 after bad weather and the resulting crashes and as a result suspended the marketing of such insurance. The first aviation policies were adopted by the marine insurance associations. The first specialized aviation insurances came into being in 1924. In 1929 the Warsaw Convention was signed. The convention became a set of terms and limitations of liability for incumbent air carriers and was the first recognition of the airline industry as we know it today.

From the middle of the 20th century, the London insurance market became the largest center for aviation insurance. The market consists of the traditional Lloyd's of London associations and numerous other traditional insurance markets. In the rest of the world, national markets emerged depending on the air traffic activity in each individual country.

The United States is home to a large portion of the world's aviation fleet and therefore has a large established market for air travel insurance. In addition to Amex and AIG (Travel Guard), Travelex also offers various insurance products. In Germany and other EU countries, a. the QBE Insurance (Flightsurance Flightsurance) and ERV air travel insurance.

Montreal Convention

The Montreal Convention regulates liability issues in international civil aviation, i. H. both questions of freight transport and questions of passenger transport. The Montreal Convention was adopted on May 28, 1999 by the states that belong to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The core idea of ​​this agreement was the modernization of the legal regulations for air transport. The main focus was on the responsibility (liability) of the contractual air carrier for damage to persons, luggage or cargo during a flight. The Montreal Convention has also been in force in Germany since 2004. It replaced the Warsaw Convention on International Air Transport (WA) , which had been in force since 1929 .

There is strict liability up to a maximum amount of 113,100 special drawing rights (approx. 135,400 €) per flight passenger. The air carrier has unlimited liability for any damage beyond this. The air carrier is only able to avoid unlimited liability if he can prove that his conduct did not contribute to the occurrence of the damage (Art. 17 Para. 1 and Art. 21 MC).

This scope of liability is often criticized by the experts, as it is viewed as inadequate. The difficulty of proving “fault on the part of the airlines” prevents the airlines from becoming more liable. In addition, national law still determines whether there is an entitlement to compensation for pain and suffering. The experts therefore recommend that claims for pain and suffering, compensation for mental disorders or compensation due to the social loss of a partner should be created in Germany as well. The current regulation is regarded as "no longer up-to-date". Therefore, travelers only have the option to close the liability gap with private air travel insurance.

Claims settlement with an air travel insurance

Depending on whether there is a death or a certain degree of disability , the insurance benefits can vary. The start of insurance is not the same for all insurance contracts and can indicate different points in time in connection with the conditions of an insurance contract. In contrast to conventional travel insurance, air travel insurance does not cover the entire duration of the trip, but begins when you leave the boarding gate to board the aircraft and covers the entire flight until you arrive at the terminal of the destination airport.

The protection usually takes the form of a one-off capital payment. Progression agreements can ensure that the amount of the disability benefit increases proportionally with higher degrees of disability. The disability is assessed in accordance with the contractual provisions. In addition to the risk of disability, other consequences of an aircraft accident can also be insured. So z. B. a fixed lump sum can be agreed in the event of accidental death of the insured person (death benefit). The death benefit is due if the insured person dies within one year of the consequences of the flight accident.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Hauck, Wolfgang Noftz (ed.): Complete commentary on the Social Security Code: SGB VII - Statutory Accident Insurance. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 2005.
  2. ^ Wells, AT and Chadbourne, BD Introduction to Aviation Insurance and Risk Management (3rd). pp4. (2007).
  3. ^ "International Union of Aerospace Insurers (IUAI)". December 2010. http://www.iuai.org/iuai/htdocs/index.html .
  4. ^ "History of Global Aerospace". December 2010. http://www.global-aero.com/main/about_us/history/ .
  5. ↑ http://www.zeit.de/2001/18/Nachgefragt_Professor_Ronald_Schmid_51_ist_Rechtsanwalt_in