ORIGINAL: Matt Kirsch
Okay, tiered rates. WHO determines pilot proficiency, if that is the course we are to take? WHO polices the membership to ensure that the planes being flown fit in the insurance tier the member has been assigned or has chosen? WHO administers the whole mess? There is no infrastructure in place now to support either, and putting that infrastructure in will only increase costs. One or two people will no doubt pipe in and say, "I'll be glad to pay whatever it costs to have this option." I am willing to wager that the vast, vast, vast majority are not with you. AMA dues are too high now in most people's opinion for what they receive. I highly doubt that more than a few are willing to pay more to put up with more silly rules and more hoops to jump through.
That's exactly why I pointed out the additional administration costs (etc) in my prior post ... those who think they will be saving a buck or two on their insurance by getting mutiple tiers enacted may in fact end up paying the exact same as they do now because the decrease in their risk group (if in fact they do end up being in one of the low-risk groups) would probably be offset to some extent by the cost of administering a more complex system.
As to who determines pilot proficiency, plus the infrastructure, etc ... we
do actually have
some of that infrastructure in place already... ranging from the fact that most clubs already have criteria for a member being allowed to fly solo, and sign the members off when they reach that stage, to the fact that we already have multiple "certification" categories for pilots under the AMA banner - examination & sign-off requirements for fixed-wing turbine pilots, a different examination & sign-off for rotary-wing turbine pilots, and probably also a similar criteria for the over-55lb sign-off.
Gordon