Insurance defined: The business of insuring against loss.

Insurance is something we are all familiar with. Love it or hate it (depending on whether your are the buyer or the seller) it is a necessary fact of life.

I, like you, have many different insurance policies; life insurance, house insurance, auto insurance, health and dental insurance and as I own an airplane, yes that too is insured. 

And that is what has my hair on fire tonight. It is renewal time again, something that seems to happen more often but the paper work says no. It is only once a year. I have owned and insured this particular plane for 30 years, all of which have been accident/claim free and yet my rates keep going up. 

This year it is an astounding 23% increase. Is there no reward for flying safely, paying exorbitant rates for fuel, $1.60 per litre, buying the latest safety equipment and maintaining the beast to ever increasing standards at ever increasing costs?

At what point does it become uneconomical? During the last 12 months, I flew just 17 hours. This due to COVID restrictions as we were not permitted to fly south to the US and were discouraged from travelling within the province as well. That pretty much restricted us to the circuit and a nearby practice area in order to maintain some semblance of competency. Yes, that is important in order to be safe and continue the claim free status. Using those numbers, each hour flown cost $100 just for insurance. With a fuel burn of 12 US gallons (45 litres) an hour, that is another $72.00 for fuel. Then you need to set some aside for maintenance and of course there is the hangar cost as well. It is getting a little pricey, eh what?

 

The New Normal –what will it be?

As I write this in late January in the midst of the uncertainty about COVID vaccine deliveries and a flattening but not declining incidence of infection, I wonder what 2021 will bring. When will we get back to enjoying life as we knew it “back then”? Everyone is concerned, especially those of us over 70. Uncertainty is the norm as no one let alone the politicos has a clue as to what tomorrow will bring.

The feds have sealed our borders, limiting flights into Canada, travel to the US and even closing the Caribbean to travel. I guess that means my frequent flyer points will continue to accumulate in spite of a desire to get out of town.

We can’t go to church or have a strata meeting. Everyone is told to stay home. No birthday or anniversary parties and even no funerals. Stores are closing permanently and the mall seems empty – because it is. Retailers can’t get inventory as shipments from China have been reduced. Perhaps in the long term that could turn out to be a blessing. Maybe Canadians will start making things once again. Come to think of it, making vaccines would be good.

Fear is everywhere. People are wearing masks in malls and stores, and even when outside or in their car and alone. It is difficult to read someone’s expression through a mask. Some are even wearing two masks based on the theory that if one is good, two must be twice as good.

TV programs are buying into this as well, with the characters wearing masks and making it hard to understand what they are muttering about – especially if you are a bit “hearing impaired”.

Virtual meetings are the current reality and the only option but they really don’t provide a good substitute for the real thing.

Will the vaccine bring relief from all of this? If we are to believe that then we also have to believe that another summer is lost as it won’t be till fall that all have received their shots.

I don’t have the answers, just more questions.