As counsel to aircraft lessors I’ve worked with the major brokers in the London insurance markets and have found that the guys (and occasional gal) that work there are on the whole professional, friendly, knowledgeable and very customer oriented, but (you knew the “but” was coming) as a lawyer I frequently am frustrated with the vague drafting of the insurance policies and insurance certificates coming out of London and the equally vague responses to my attempts to understand or clarify the wording.

A prime example of vague drafting are two coverage exceptions that have been in contingent aircraft insurance policies for at least the last 15 years. I’ll discuss those exceptions below, but first some brief background on contingent aircraft insurance.

As you know, each aircraft lessor requires an aircraft lessee to maintain hull/hull war and liability insurance on the lessor’s aircraft during the term of the lease. That insurance is, either directly or ultimately, usually placed through the London insurance market. The London market also sells (or tries to sell) “contingent insurance” directly to the aircraft lessors. Simply stated, contingent insurance covers the risk that the lessee’s insurance doesn’t pay the lessor after a valid claim is made by the lessor. Contingent insurance is generally sold on a fleet basis—that is, the insurance covers the lessor’s entire fleet of aircraft.

I would guess that most aircraft lessors buy contingent insurance. I consider contingent insurance an optional insurance (not a core, required business insurance), but it’s an insurance product that is hard not to buy. If a lessor does buy it and never has to make a claim, the cost is seen as just another cost of doing business—rarely thought about again. If a lessor doesn’t buy it and would have had a claim (or a potential claim), then somebody at the lessor is likely to be fired. I’m not suggesting that the only reason that executives at aircraft lessors buy contingent insurance is for job security, but it is one reason.

With the foregoing as background, let’s get back to the main topic: two coverage exceptions that limit the scope of the contingent insurance. I have seen these exceptions in various policies over the years but the language quoted below is from a policy I found online today through a Google search:

Let’s start with second exception first. Contingent insurance does NOT pay if the primary insurance doesn’t pay because the primary insurer is insolvent. I suspect this fact will surprise some of you. London brokers and underwriters will tell you that this exception is required in contingent insurance policies because Lloyd’s underwriters are prohibited from providing “financial guarantees.” Also note that “insolvent” is not defined and so will likely be broadly construed by a contingent insurer facing a claim.

Now note that contingent insurance also does NOT pay if the primary insurance doesn’t pay “by reason of the . . . financial default of” the primary insurer. What does the “financial default” exception cover that isn’t already covered by the insolvency exception? And isn’t every failure to pay money a “financial default”? I have asked those two questions many times, and have yet to receive a satisfactory response.

Regarding the first exception, note that it does NOT say “this Policy does not cover loss or damage which is recovered as a claim from the Principal Policy”–in other words, you don’t get paid twice. What the above language says is the insured under the contingent policy does not get paid for any claim which is “recoverable” under the primary policy–presumably even if not actually recovered. What does “recoverable” mean? Only that the claim is within the scope of the primary policy? That can’t be right–otherwise no claim would be payable under a contingent policy. That the claim can be recovered if the claimant tries hard enough? Again I have repeatedly raised this issue over the years without a satisfactory resolution.

Some of you may be thinking that I just didn’t do a good job negotiating the language. Maybe, but I don’t think so.

When you look at the look at the two exceptions together a fair question to ask a London broker is: What potential claims under a contingent policy would not fall under one or both of those exceptions? In other words, what risks are actually being covered by contingent insurance? Yet another variation of the question: What are the details of actual claims that have been paid out (or denied) over the last several years?

I don’t mean the above to be a criticism of contingent insurance (I really don’t), but I do think the two exceptions discussed above illustrate the problems lawyers often have when dealing with the London insurance market. Lawyers are looking for clear, precise language that will lead to predictable outcomes over various fact patterns. And the London market operates using insurance forms and precedents that have been in place for years (and years) and that brokers and underwriters are loathe to modify.