As the pendulum continues to swing further toward a hard aviation insurance market, business aircraft operators should plan on at least a 10 percent to 30 percent increase in premiums this year at renewal, according to Aviation Specialty Insurance president Matt Drummelsmith. “There are a lot of factors that go into this, but the point is to not expect a reduction or even flat renewal.”

But rate increases are only part of the equation, as restrictions on single-pilot capability and limited capacity are also prominent underwriting considerations, he added. “In certain cases, price isn’t even discussed because there might only be one solution to fill a need. With such scarcity of options, premium simply becomes a byproduct of the underwriting process. If there’s a specific way or mandated requirement of a flight department, it becomes a ‘take it or leave it’ type of thing.”

He stressed that aircraft operators need to be proactive when coming up on their renewal window by not waiting until the last minute and providing as much detail as possible. “We are long past the days of quick flat renewal,” Drummelsmith said. “Now, almost everything is being looked at and if current information isn’t provided, it could mean certain pilots are excluded and limits are reduced.”

Commercial operators, he noted, should plan on at least a three- to four-week lead time in gathering updates for renewal to allow for dialog and market sourcing to achieve the same level of coverage and consideration.