Insurance Questions on “What If?” - 2004/08

Insurance Questions on “What If?”
Motions made at the April 24-25, 2004, Executive Council Meeting
in Muncie, Indiana.
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.
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. To
satisfy a member’s curiosity we have
occasally sought legal advice for the “what
if” situation. This has proven to be an
added expense for AMA and serves no
beneficial purpose since the questions are
hypothetical. These questions invariably
lack the detailed information that is
essential to provide a definitive answer.
Responding to hypothetical questions
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 or is
not safe or is or is not a violation of the
AMA Safety Code and/or a covered event.
Never do these questions 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 or not 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 principal 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.
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 it can be crucial to the
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outcome. This makes any attempt to answer
an identical hypothetical question previously
answered for one jurisdiction when
submitted from a different jurisdiction
impossible. This is further complicated by
the time between inquiries when the law or
court rulings may have changed the answer.
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.
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 limited information
available.