The aviation insurance sector has been taking the same bumpy ride that’s bruised so many in the broader business aviation industry. But brokers at the recent National Business Aviation Association convention in Las Vegas think they are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel ahead.
At PIM, the international brokerage in Wichita, the staff is down to 13, well off the peak. Next year will still be rough, according to Timothy Bonnell Jr., vice president of sales and marketing. But there are high hopes for 2015-17,
Bonnell sees a silver lining in the rough patch. “Policyholders are happy to see me,” he explains with a sly grin. And why not? He’s been delivering good news of declining premiums, often 5 percent or more.
Thomas Murphy with Sutton James Inc., an aviation insurance brokerage located at Hartford’s Brainard Airport, is seeing much of the same thing.
“It’s a buyer’s market,” he said.
Sutton James has eight brokers and is writing about $25 million in premiums. The agency works with about 20 insurers.
Murphy explained the combination of dwindling business and declining premiums is pushing brokers into exploring new areas of coverage.
One of those is the emerging market of drones. Even with no humans aboard, there are liability risks for owners, operators and manufacturers.
And Sutton James is seeing an uptick in helicopter business.
But the real growth opportunity, Murphy said, appears to be manufacturer product liability. Industry giant United Technologies has started requiring proof of liability insurance from its contractors and Sutton James is ready to write the policies, Murphy said.