Covid 19 and insurance.

[B Sharp]

Recently I have had a number of emails and phone calls regarding whether I would be insured to fly under the current lockdown. Most of then have said that if I fly I will not be insured as I will have broken the lockdown and therefor will have been operating outside the law.
This morning I have visited the Scottish Aeromodellers Assoc. (joined at the hip with the BMFA) website and have found the following piece of information:

Dear All,
There is a rumour going around that SAA members insurance has been cancelled during the Covid -19 outbreak. The SAA would like to make it perfectly clear that this is incorrect.
There are also members who are not understanding the government guidelines and are trying to find ways to get around the guidelines to visit a flying field, we have now checked with our insurers and their response is below.

Our insurance is still under the same conditions of DRES i.e. you will be insured as long as you are in compliance with all the laws pertaining to our activities. At this time the police have the power to stop and ask you your reasons for travelling, travelling to a model flying field is not regarded an essential journey as it is like driving to a location away from your house to go a walk. Neither is flying model aircraft regarded as exercise, on a further note from the insurers, should a modeller whilst flying infect someone else with covid 19 there will be no insurance cover for that.

I have since visited the BMFA website but have not found a similar statement there.
I can and do fly from my garden out over the surrounding fields - however I never leave the curtilage of my own property. If you are lucky enough to have a similar setup I suspect it is legal to have a quick flight or two and still remain legal and insured.
Brian.

[Jolly Roger]

I'm in the same position Brian and agree with all your points.

However I've decided not to fly because many people are super-sensitive to how everyone is handling the lock-down. I think a few people in our village, rightly or wrongly, would be upset when there are such strong guidelines to stay at home.

It means I've been missing out on some cracking flying, but for me this is a small price for village harmony. I've always taken great care to show the best side of model-flying to our neighbours (taking aerial shots of their houses when asked etc) and I want to safeguard all that for the future.

It's a very personal decision though and everyone has to weigh up their own circumstances.

Right, I'm off to find the charger for my little indoor heli...

[Barry_Cole]

This from Manny W at BMFA:-

Good morning Barry
All good here thank you, I trust you are well.
Not sure where you are getting your information from but I would suggest you find a new source, that is not correct.
Insurance remains valid and in place for members to go out and fly should they deem it appropriate.
I refer you to my comments in the last edition of Manny’s Musings, “no such thing as genuine news any more”……..



BC

[Jolly Roger]

This from Manny W at BMFA:-

Good morning Barry
All good here thank you, I trust you are well.
Not sure where you are getting your information from but I would suggest you find a new source, that is not correct.
Insurance remains valid and in place for members to go out and fly should they deem it appropriate.
I refer you to my comments in the last edition of Manny’s Musings, “no such thing as genuine news any more”……..



BC

Insurance may well be fine but for people needing to drive to their site I doubt this qualifies as an "absolutely essential journey".

[Barry_Cole]

Insurance may well be fine but for people needing to drive to their site I doubt this qualifies as an "absolutely essential journey".

Give it another week, and it will be for me.........



BC

[Jolly Roger]

I agree Barry - as the weeks turn into months, flying may become "absolutely essential for mental health".

[Barry_Cole]

I agree Barry - as the weeks turn into months, flying may become "absolutely essential for mental health".

I think, as days turn into weeks will do it for me.......



BC

[SP250]

I happened to be speaking with Andy Symons this morning on other matters (websites) and having seen Brian's original post, I asked about the insurance question.
His reply was that the insurance will remain in operation for those flying in their own back gardens or fields etc.
If people drive to their flying site, the insurance will still be in effect, although the police or others may deem it not to be an essential journey - which is a different issue.
However, he did say that the bigger problem was probably one of bad PR.
The general public may take a dim view of modellers flying (even in a farmer's field next to their house or in their own garden) and we should all think about that aspect before doing it.

John M

[Ray Watts]

This is a bit of a tricky one as usual guidelines stipulate that for safety reasons you should not fly alone (though I sometimes do as do many others), but with the current near on lock down, that would mean 2 people venturing out on a non essential journey separately. And then there's the issue that if you had a flyaway and it landed in somebody's property, social distancing may be awkward.

The other problem with travelling is, what if you break down or worse, have an accident. Last week when we went out to get the shopping, there was a broken down car that had the RAC out, but it was obviously not repairable so a recovery truck was winching the car onto the bed, and this meant that the cars occupants had to get in the cab with the recovery driver who they didn't know. So, contact with 2 strangers and a journey with one of them for who knows how long. Now I don't know about you, but the last time I broke down or had an accident, it wasn't planned, and currently I wouldn't be so keen to get in a Breakdown truck which had had god knows how many different people inside it.

We do need to be sensible, and most of us have simulators and building that they don't get round to. By the way, use the simulator as a tool and not a toy. Set yourself something new to learn to do and practice it, and use the biggest plane there is as it shows up better.

However, I do envy Brian and his back garden.

Cheers and stay safe

Ray

[Andrew Ray]

I would love to go out and fly but I think the deeper issue is one of respect, we have been asked to stay at home until this is over. The more we do this the sooner it will be over. Regardless, there are folks going out to work and risking their lives for us, that is you and me. I heard on the news today that two nurses have died, both with young children.

It is not too much to ask is it, to put our toys away until this is over?