Pilots' Income Protection Insurance

The traditional form of insurance for professional Air Crew is a Loss of Licence (LOL) scheme. There is now an alternative to LOL which is Pilot Income Protection (PIP) which can provide you with a monthly income for a set period (normally 5 years).

A Loss of Licence scheme pays a lump sum benefit if the Insurer is satisfied that your licence will not be reinstated with 5 years of the disability. Depending on the scheme it may also pay out a temporary monthly benefit if your licence is suspended due to ill health or accident. Normally, any temporary benefit paid will draw down on the lump sum amount payable.

Under the terms of the policy, you must advise Towergate and your HR Department as soon as possible of any potential claim.

Towergate act as an agent of the Insurer for this purpose and will ensure they advise the Insurers in accordance with the Policy conditions.

In many cases you will return to work prior to the end of the waiting period and therefore no claim will be made.

If your  illness is prolonged, you will be required to provide more detailed information. After a specified period normally, 90 days, you will then be asked to complete a more extensive questionnaire and insurers may request additional medical reports or information from attending physicians, your aviation medical examiner or other parties.

It is very important that you advise both Towergate and your HR Department of any potential claim in order to commence the start of the waiting period.

The maximum period that PIP will respond is 60 months (5 years) or up until attaining the maximum age shown in the schedule, or until you return to work, whichever the sooner.

The maximum amount of cover available for the crew member is £250,000 and for the spouse is £125,000 (or currency equivalent).

This type of insurance pays a lump sum benefit up to £ 50,000 (or currency equivalent) should you be diagnosed with certain named illnesses - Heart Attack, Coronary Artery By‐Pass Surgery, Stroke, Major Organ Transplant, Cancer, Kidney Failure, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Motor Neurone Disease and  Alzheimer’s Disease.Please refer to the policy wording for full definitions. Please note that this benefit is currently only available for Etihad, Oman Air, Jazeera Airways and Royal Jet pilots.

Normally your Employer (the Airline) or a Pilots Association or Pilots Union will purchase a Group Scheme on behalf of all crew members. Therefore provided that you are fit and well and hold a full flying licence at the inception of the Group Policy you will automatically be included in the scheme (i.e. you need do nothing).

You should ensure that any additional income protection cover will not reduce the amount that your PIP cover will pay out due to this additional cover. Remember that you can not insure more than 85% of net monthly income. We recommend that you provide full information to Towergate who will be very happy to advise you.

Any crew member who is in full time employment and has held a professional commercial licence for at least 12 months.

Yes, you may apply for individual membership at any time that you wish, please click here.

If you are a member of an existing Group Scheme and you are happy with the benefits that have already been provided to you, in this case you need do nothing further.

Please select your Airline logo shown on the web page, this area is private to your Airline Group Scheme and thus is password protected. Please then follow the prompts.

At any time that you wish.

Please submit the Application Form to us as soon as possible.

PIP will only pay a claim resulting from bodily injury or sickness. However if a valid claim is presented prior to you being made redundant or the waiting period has already commenced, then your claim will continue to be handled by Insurers.

If you decide to leave your Employer any Company purchased cover will cease.

If you purchase additional voluntary benefits this policy will be cancelled with effect from the date of you leaving and any premium that has already been paid by you will be returned at pro rata from the date of leaving for the portion of the period up to the expiry of your policy, subject to no claims being made in the period of cover.

Please be advised that if a valid claim is presented prior to your leaving your employer or the waiting period has already commenced, then your claim will continue to be handled by insurers, under both the group scheme and any voluntary cover purchased.

However, if you move to an alternative employer that provides either a Group Pilot Income Protection or a Group Loss of Licence scheme and they are already a group scheme client of ours, you may continue your individual policy at the same discounted group rates.

Alternatively, if you move to an alternative employer that does not provide either a Group Pilot Income Protection or a Group Loss of Licence scheme via ourselves and you reside in the European Union, you will have the option to join our PIP Club as an individual member, however you will not qualify for the discounted group rates.

If you have purchased additional benefits you will receive a renewal notice at least 21 days prior to the expiry of your policy inviting you to renew for a further 12 months.

Alternatively, if you wish to increase your benefits you will be required to complete a short application form which will be reviewed by Insurers prior to accepting your increased cover.