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Besso Grimme Insurance Brokers GmbH
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Third party legal liability and passenger legal liability insurance / CSL insurance

Anyone who causes damage to another person must pay out the resulting claims. Protect yourself against liability claims that might arise through the use of your aircraft, as well as the potential consequences.

The insurer will satisfy the legitimate claims filed against you up to the agreed amount of cover. But there’s more! The insurer will also check whether you are legally obliged to pay compensation for the damage. And if the insurer believes that the claims are not justified and should be rejected, it will also cover the costs of rejecting the claims or of any legal dispute.

The insurance covers claims relating to property damage and personal injury as well as consequential financial losses for which third parties claim compensation on the basis of private statutory liability.

In aircraft liability insurance, there is a difference between

  • Third party legal liability insurance
  • and passenger legal liability insurance

Whereas Third party legal liability insurance covers property damage and personal injury suffered by third parties, passenger (also known as carrier) liability insurance covers the claims of passengers and occupants.

Combined single limit (CSL) insurance is a convenient alternative to both types of cover. It is a combination of Third party legal liability and passenger legal liability insurance with a fixed maximum amount of cover. In simple terms: Claims arising from each component are not limited to the maximum cover set out in the Third party legal liability or passenger liability insurance, but rather to a single (higher) agreed CSL limit.

Liability is determined by the national laws, ordinance and official regulations. Tort liability and liability due to the operational risk of the aircraft are two different things.

The scope of liability insurance is determined by statutory parameters and depends on factors such as the flight route (the countries of departure and arrival) and the countries whose airspace is traversed. The minimum levels of insurance cover described in Regulation (EC) No 785/2004 in combination with 285/2010 apply to purchased flights within Europe as well as inbound and outbound flights.

Minimum sum insured according Article 7 of
(EG) No. 785/2004 dated 21. April 2004
A/c category MTOW in kgs SZR
1 < 500 750.000
2 < 1.000 1.500.000
3 < 2.700 3.000.000
4 < 6.000 7.000.000
5 < 12.000 18.000.000
6 < 25.000 80.000.000
7 < 50.000 150.000.000
8 < 200.000 300.000.000
9 < 500.000 500.000.000
10 > 500.000 700.000.000

These govern not only Third party legal liability and passenger liability insurance, but also delayed baggage, delayed transportation or delivery of baggage and the minimum level of cover for damage per kilogram of cargo.

Further regulations are also set out in the Montreal Convention and the Warsaw Convention.

Did you know?

In Germany a third party, passenger or occupant injured by the operation of the aircraft can file claims for compensation against the pilot or carrier even if the latter is not at fault.
The Third party legal liability, pilot or carrier is liable even if they are not at fault, i.e. solely due to the operational risk of the aircraft. Unlike in car insurance, for example, inevitability cannot be used as a defence.

Example of Third party legal liability: A pilot is waiting on the runway for the green light to take off. An aircraft following behind crashes into the plane due to carelessness. As the aircraft in front was in operation, the owner (third party) is partially liable due to the operational risk.

Example of passenger liability: The aircraft encounters strong unforeseen turbulence during a flight. The crew immediately asks the passengers to remain seated and fasten their seatbelts. A passenger comes out of the toilet and, unable to buckle in before the next bout of turbulence, stumbles and sustains an injury.
Although the crew members did everything they could to prevent the damage and the turbulence was a natural occurrence, the air carrier is liable.