Insurance Questions on “What If?” - 2004/08
The Academy receives numerous requests from chartered clubs and individual members seeking information regarding the insurance program. These questions are routinely fielded by the people in the Special Services Department.
Occasionally the questions are posed in the form of hypothetical situations. Typically a brief set of assumptions or theoretical situations are outlined and the question asked is whether or not there is coverage.
Why hypothetical questions are difficult to answer
There are a number of reasons why specific answers to these questions are difficult to provide and in some cases we must offer somewhat vague answers.
- Providing an opinion about coverage for a particular situation sometimes involves a legal opinion, and because we are not attorneys we cannot offer legal advice.
- To have an attorney evaluate and answer these requests is of little value. Seeking legal advice for hypothetical situations has proven to be an added expense for AMA and serves no beneficial purpose since the questions are hypothetical.
- Hypothetical questions invariably lack the detailed information that is essential to provide a definitive answer. Responding to hypotheticals leads to answers that are often too speculative to be of any assistance.
Questions frequently involve some activity on the flying field and whether or not some action of an individual is safe, is a violation of the AMA Safety Code, or is a covered event. These questions rarely include the experience, knowledge, and understanding of each of the participants and spectators involved, the frequency with which the action occurs, or many other circumstances which in the final analysis would determine the ultimate outcome as to whether there may be liability and/or coverage.
A hypothetical question simply does not and cannot by its nature cover all the facts necessary for such a determination. This is why a fundamental principle of American jurisprudence is that courts will not give advisory opinions. There has to be an actual controversy before the court will render a decision.
Legal and jurisdictional limitations
Contributing to the uncertainty is that the 50 state laws and courts many times do not agree on all aspects of insurance law. Even with respect to basic principles, there are routinely different schools of thought followed by various groupings of the states. The law is constantly changing and the various schools of thought usually vie with each other for ascendance, so there would likely be some states in the process of changing the reasoning underlying the enforcement of an insurance policy.
- Some insurance matters are covered by statute and some are not. This varies from state to state and can be crucial to the outcome.
- This makes any attempt to answer an identical hypothetical question previously answered for one jurisdiction and apply it to a different jurisdiction impossible.
- The passage of time between inquiries may also change the answer due to new laws or court rulings.
Local disputes and policy
Often hypothetical questions are the result of a dispute or conflict among members about a given type of conduct. Even if they warrant the expense of a legal opinion, there may be an ongoing difference of opinion among members, especially in clubs. In that situation, whether the disputed conduct is or is not covered under the policy is normally not adequate to resolve the local dispute.
It is AMA policy not to get involved in differences of opinion or personality issues at the local level. Dressing up such a problem in an attempt to resolve it with a legal opinion is simply nonproductive from the standpoint of final policy coverage.
What the Academy can and does provide
The majority of members contacting AMA regarding general insurance questions normally have their questions answered without difficulty because these questions do not involve hypothetical situations.
- The AMA member liability policy provides broad coverage customized to meet your needs. That means you are usually covered should your negligent conduct cause injury to another person; however, as with all insurance policies, there are exclusions and limitations.
- Keep in mind there may be coverage afforded by the AMA accident medical policy, which pays medical expenses for an injured member without regard to fault.
- Basic distinctions such as accident and disability coverage, property damage, and general liability coverage are routinely explained in response to members' questions; however, hypothetical questions cannot be resolved with legally binding answers.
The Special Services Department will do its best to provide you with answers in general terms based on the limited information available.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
