These guys are right, it's all about the underwriter. It sounds like your guys are letting the broker get away with being lazy. I used to think the same way until a good friend of mine got in the av-insurance business, then the learning began. When a pilot tells you his insuranece won't allow him to hire you, that is a lie, or, his broker should be fired. The broker works for you, and should not tell you who you can and cannot hire. The relationship the broker has with the underwriter is the key. If your broker just faxes over your times and waits for a response, then no, you will not get hired. But if the broker calls the underwriter and says hey look, I know the chief pilot, he has been a customer of ours for years, and he wants this guy on board. What can we do? If the broker has any type of relationship with the underwriter, then you have a new job. A few years ago I was flying a medium sized jet and the company I worked for also had a large cabin airplane. I got called into the CEO's office one day and was asked why I was not flying their larger aircraft. (They hated the CP and always called the other pilots directly when they wanted something) I told them the insurance company told me I did not meet the mins, and I was then told to try again and do what I needed to do. I didn't know anything about av-insurance at the time, so I called our broker, NationAir, and asked for our broker, Tesa Hartman. She was not in, and I told the secretary what I wanted and she said fax in your times, ect and they would get back to me in a couple of days. Well, they didnt and so after 4 days of hearing nothing from them, I called everyday for the next 2 weeks only to get the run around. I finally got Tesa Hartman and she said no, it was hard enough to get me insured on the other aircraft and the underwriter said no. A few months after that my friend got into the av-insurance business and I told him what had happened, and he said she didnt even send in your info. I talked my comapny into switching brokers at renewal time, and sure enough, I got approved for the larger aircraft the same day we switched. How you ask? After being in the av-insurance business for less than 2 months, he picked up the phone and called the underwriter. I was sitting in his office listening on speaker phone when it happened. So, don't let someone give you the run around, and stay away from Nationair and Tesa Hartman, as they'll take your premiums and then sit on their A@@.
