[snip]
IANAL, but violation of an FAR would seem to fit the case of neglience,
hardly a cause for denial of coverage for the incident in question. It
might play in denial of future coverage.
Frank, I think this issue came up in the Seventies when some aviation
insurers were trying to deny claims based on FAR violations, and there
was some sort of gubmint action to put a stop to that. The way the
FARs are written, essentially anything that happens to an aircraft can
be traced to either an FAR violation or an "act of God" -- so a policy
that excluded both would never pay on anything!
The insurance industry is heavily regulated and laws specifically
govern their operation. Part of the law is called "bad faith". It
essentially means that an insurance company is guilty of bad faith if
they issued it without any intention of paying the claim. If the
courts find them guilty of bad faith the insured is entitled to treble
(triple) damages. Read your policy; if there is no clause concerning
violation of FARs then it doesn't apply. Some policies do have
exclusions for illegal acts, such as malpractice insurance.
My own experience in processing claims on my glider insurance has been
positive. They are interested in closing (i.e. paying) claims as soon
as possible (I think that claims that stay open for long periods
attract attention). This can be an issue with gliders since repairs
can take a LONG period of time (remember this when you consider trying
to make a marginal glide over bad territory-bone heal even more
slowly). They only issue I had was they wanted me to take my
motorglider to a local A/P because the claim was related to the engine
extension mechanism. I insisted that only the DG dealer was qualified
to do the repair (which, in fact, was the case). I got my way.
Translation: insurance companies can't force a claim resolution down
your throat that you disagree with. Example: having a boat repair shop
do glass repair on your glider.
Of course, these are U.S. laws. I have no idea what goes on in other
countries.
Tom
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