Test Pilots & Life Insurance

Life insurance for test pilots may be available at standard terms with specific insurers if you are based within the UK. The insurer will be particularly interested in the type of test flights that you perform: production aircraft, experimental aircraft or non-production aircraft testing. If your occupation requires you to fly experimental or prototype aircraft it is probable that your Life Insurance will be accepted at non-standard terms which will be in the form of an increase to the monthly policy premium.

If you are a reservist in the armed forces this may impact upon the terms of Life Insurance available to you and you should discuss this with your insurance adviser.

If you are a member of the armed forces please visit our dedicated page for your occupation here.

Critical illness cover pays out a cash lump sum of money, if you are diagnosed with a medical condition that is listed in the insurer’s claims set e.g. cancer, heart attack, stroke.

Critical illness insurance applications for test pilots will typically be available with an occupational exclusion. This will mean that should you become critically ill from your work as a test pilot you will not be able to place a claim for critical illness. It is worth bearing in mind that many conditions covered by a critical illness policy are not things that can be caused by your occupation e.g. Parkinsons disease, cancer, etc.

There is the potential that you may be able to secure critical illness cover at standard terms if you are based solely within the UK, but this will be highly dependent upon the insurer that you approach and dealt with on a case by case basis.

Income protection pays you a replacement of your monthly income, if you are unable to work due to ill health.

Income protection for test pilots may be available with some insurers but you will need to place your application very specifically to an insurance provider who will even consider the cover. Those insurers that can consider test pilots for Income Protection will want to know the types or aircraft that you fly, the airspace you operate in, time spent in the air and if you have had any significant periods of time off work.

Where income protection is available you should try and secure a policy with an ‘own occupation’ claims definition. This will mean that you are eligible to make a claim if you are unable to work in your specific job as a test pilot. Alternative definitions of income protection are ‘suited’ or ‘any’ occupation, meaning that in order to place a claim you must be unable to perform any like job or any job at all, respectively.

When you apply for income protection Insurance you will need to choose a deferment period between when you are unable to work and the time until you are able to place a claim. Deferment periods are usually between 1 day, 1 week, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 13 weeks, 26 weeks or 52 weeks. You should consider any employee benefits that you have, savings available to you and your budget for the monthly premium when determining the policy deferment period. Our financial advisers can help you to determine the best income protection options for your individual circumstances.

We work alongside a specialist travel broker that can find the right policy for you. To find out more, please visit our travel page here.