Aviation liability war insurance or hull war insurance
Liability and hull insurance policies exclude damage caused anywhere in the world by, for example, acts of terrorism, hijacking, sabotage, seizure and civil war. This is governed in the terms and conditions of the insurers and in the conventional standard clauses AVN48B (liability) and LSW617H (hull).
Additional cover is available for each sector, namely liability war and hull war cover, to cover any claims arising from damage. This, in turn, is governed in the terms and conditions of the insurers and in the conventional standard clauses AVN52E (liability) and LSW 555D (hull).
Do not be troubled by the term ‘war insurance’. Even if you fly to countries or regions in which war is unlikely, the last few years in particular have shown that damage can be caused by hijacking or sabotage anywhere in the world. In recent years, claims arising from numerous calamities (hijacking, accidental shooting-down and acts of sabotage) have been settled with this type of cover despite having not occurred in ‘hot spots’.
If a flight is heading into a particularly risky country or region, insurers will currently check on a case-by-case basis whether an inbound flight is possible and whether or not to charge an additional premium.
The countries and regions in question are listed in a contractual agreement beforehand.
Did you know?
In some cases, it might be unclear whether the hull insurance or hull war insurance has to pay for a claim (such as if a plane is missing or it has not been determined whether the damage was caused by sabotage or is simply property damage). In this case, a clause makes sure that the policyholder does not suffer from this ambiguity, but rather that both insurers share the loss after the end of a clarification window (clause AVS 103).
