Protect your bundle

Between our aircraft, auto, and health insurance, it’s no wonder we sometimes feel “insurance poor.” By bundling all your needs into a basic business insurance plan, you should be able to cover your assets, provide liability and casual coverage, as well as save money for your school. Depending on the size and type of flight school you own, you might also look for a larger plan that features other components as well, but the basics are as follows:

• Asset Coverage: Protects your place of business in the case of a disaster, such as severe storms, fires and vandalism. Even if you do not own the property, building, or hangars from which you operate your business, you should still maintain this type of coverage in order to protect the assets located inside the buildings, including computers, furniture, training materials, and other goods. Look for plans that will also offer you financial compensation in the event that you cannot run your business due to such events that occur at no fault of your own, such as hurricanes.
• Auto Coverage: If you have a vehicle used primarily for your school and you also utilize it for personal use, your personal auto insurance coverage usually won’t cover you if you have an accident in your personal vehicle while using it for business purposes. In order to protect your personal assets as well as your vehicle, ask your insurance agent and check your policy’s exclusions to see if it would be more beneficial to transfer the vehicles into the auto coverage in your business insurance plan, especially if you have multiple cars or trucks in use.
• Liability and Casualty: Liability insurance protects you financially in case your school is sued for negligence. This feature is especially important if you have employees because it can guard your business against mistakes made by your CFIs or other staff. Unlike property insurance, Casualty insurance insures the business against intangible losses and protects against legal liability for losses caused by injury to other people or damage to the property of others. For example, if your school is located at the far end of the airfield and clients cannot get to it due to a disaster, such as an accident, Casualty insurance may protect against any loss, whereas property insurance would not since there is no direct loss to the location of your school.

• Other Features: You may be able to get tax breaks by including your group health insurance in your overall business coverage plan instead of as a separate policy. Although laws vary by state, you may also be able to include workers’ compensation protection within your business insurance plan.

The standard casualty coverage offered with a business policy will usually be enough for most small businesses, but there are additional casualty policies that some may determine are critical for the safe operation of their school, such as:

• Terrorism Coverage: After 9/11, acts of terrorism or war are no longer covered by most traditional insurance policies; you must now purchase a terrorism policy that can be added to your business insurance plan.
• Flood Insurance: Typical property insurance policies do not cover floods, but a flood policy can usually be added to your business insurance plan.
• Other Types: Cyber-Liability, Identity Theft, and Cyber-Fraud.
• Employee Theft and Dishonesty: If your employees have access to company funds or handle cash transactions you may want to consider this coverage.
• Surety Bonds: This form of casualty coverage is often referred to as a “bond” and ensures someone you will contract with that you will complete the contract. If you are bidding for government jobs, then you will be required to obtain a surety bond.