BMFA London Area Club looking for UK members

[Bob Thompson1894]

Thats what we all thought...any comments from the Committee? Can you ask the question, Rob? (I mean Dave) We all try to fly safely, but have much worse insurance benefits than the BMFA? That cant be right, surely. The LMA may be smaller, but has a good safety record.

[ChrisBerry]

I'd be keen to get clarification from the committee/insurers on this also. That's more than my car insurance excess and seems a bit steep to me!

The BMFA are now using Integro (formerly Doodsons) and there are no claim fees/excesses of any kind.
Personally I'd rather pay a slightly higher subs rate, say £35 and have a significantly reduced excess.

Cheers

[Rob Buckley]

Could all those who've actually claimed off the LMA insurance put their hands up please?

The one that has will find that the LMA committee actually paid the excess on his behalf (because we're nice like that- but that's not setting policy, every claim would be assessed on it's merits).

While I cannot speak for the BMFA, as a member I had a read of this page...-

https://bmfa.org/Info/Articles/Know-your-insurance

...which mentions the £50 'admin fee' to be paid if you notify the BMFA of an incident. There's no mention of that admin fee ever being paid back, so I can assume that it's effectively an excess that you have to pay even if there is never actually a claim against you.

There is no fee to pay anywhere with the LMA insurance, you can inform me of as many incidents as you like for free, there is only the possibility of an excess to be paid if the insurance pays out.

As to what would happen with the insurer's contribution in case of an incident, it's one of those things that might be found out after a claim, but it's up to the insurer who the claim was against to recover money from the other insurer who was covering the member who had the incident.

So in summary, the sky's not falling.

[Dave Berry 2911]

Rob,
Quote below lifted from the current BMFA news page:-

"Improved BMFA insurance arrangements for 2016

Club Support Officer General, News Flash 21/11/2015 07:32:00 View Count 746 Return
Throughout 2015, the BMFA has been working with its insurance broker Integro (formerly Doodsons) to review the insurance package provided to individual members and BMFA Affiliated Clubs. The BMFA has secured a new three year deal with Integro and its insurance partners, which will provide stability in terms of our annual premiums and we are pleased to report that there are a number of positive changes and improvements to our already excellent insurance arrangements for 2016:

The administration fee of £50 for submission of claims has been removed. There is therefore no longer an excess or admin fee payable by members in the event of a claim.

The personal accident cover provided to members has been transferred to Aviva. The new policy provides cover of up to £35,000 for death or a permanent total disablement. However, the scope of the cover has now been extended to include permanent partial disablement.

The optional travel insurance has been transferred to Aviva and is available to purchase by any member (and their accompanying family members) travelling for model flying purposes. Please visit www.bmfa.org for further details or to arrange purchase.

The Directors and Officers Cover provided as part of the insurance package for BMFA affiliated clubs has also been transferred to Aviva.

The optional equipment scheme has been discontinued for individual members (due to low uptake), but is now provided free of charge to all of our clubs. This is a significant additional benefit for BMFA affiliated clubs and provides buildings and contents cover up to £10,000. The BMFA would like to record its appreciation to John Capel and his team at Integro and Jon Wye at Mitsui Sumitomo for finding a way to facilitate this new arrangement.

As part of the new three year deal, Integro have agreed to continue their sponsorship of the BMFA and have committed £100,000 over the next three years to support new initiatives and development. Amongst other things, previous sponsorship allowed the BMFA to commission the flight simulator trailer and also funded work on the National Centre project."

[Rob Buckley]

So there we go, the BMFA insurance has got better and the sky's still in place!

It does go to show how much money is involved in insurance when there's a £33K per year cahsback.

[Bob Thompson1894]

Still does not answer the query regarding the LMA. I'm afraid that the LMA paying the excess out of the goodness of their hearts, although a nice gesture, is not really a good answer. There are no promises or guarantees here, I would like to see the LMA insurance being a no excess insurance, for the peace of mind of all LMA members...especially as if I have any incident at all, I am legally bound to inform both insurances. I know the BMFA has over 30,000 members and we only have 1,000, but surely this could be arranged? We always assumed that both insurances were identical.

[ChrisBerry]

I'd be interested to understand the cost breakdown of the insurance, not just the members contribution but the total cost to the association. Clearly the LMA underwrites the initial cost prior to receipt of members subs and I presume a multi year deal is struck with the broker.

Apologies if its been said in previous posts but what is the current term of the insurance agreement and when can a new deal be negotiated with the current or alternative provider?

Chris

[DAVE JOHNSON]

Chris---our present insurance expires at year end----Rob is in discussions with several insurance companies/brokers at the moment and while thats ongoing it wouldn't be right to comment ,especially on a public forum---but be assured he is working away and the best insurance possible for the Association will be secured----DAVE

[ChrisBerry]

Dave, thanks for the update. I understand a public forum isn't the place to discuss detailed matters. Good to know further options are being pursued.
Chris

[Bob Thompson1894]

Thank you Dave. And well done Rob.