Claims arising from the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane crash earlier this month could exceed $US100 million ($140 million), according to Aon.

The average hull loss for new aircraft of this type is about $US50 million ($70.4 million).

“Combined with liabilities, this is likely to set the total claim figure in excess of $US100 million,” Client Manager Aviation Matthew Gestier told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“The aircraft liability claim quantum will be dependent on a number of factors including the domicile of the passengers, because the Montreal Convention 1999 allows families of the passengers to issue proceedings in a variety of jurisdictions.”

The crash on March 10 was the second in five months involving the same aircraft model, and came at a tough time for the aviation market, which has seen claims outweigh premium in the past six years. Capacity has shrunk; in the past three years 20 insurers have either consolidated or withdrawn from the market, adding to pricing pressure.

“Historically, an isolated loss of this size would still have an impact,” Mr Gestier said.

“However, in the current state of the market, the impact is magnified. The market is changing quite dynamically, with insurers requesting rate increases normally in the range of 10-30% depending on the risk.”

The Australian market is showing similar trends.

Aon says underwriters are reverting to more technical writing and giving closer scrutiny to wordings.

Other actions include lowering risk appetites, raising deductibles and reducing line sizes.

“The latter is creating greater pricing differentials for clients because supporting underwriters will not always follow lead terms,” Mr Gestier said.

The global ban on the Boeing MAX model could spell trouble for the US aircraft-maker.

“Aircraft manufacturers tend to carry grounding liability coverage, which covers legal liabilities arising from the grounding of aircraft as ordered by civil aviation authorities following a suspected defect or fault affecting two or more aircraft,” Mr Gestier said.

“There is a potential for large liability claims against the manufacturer from operators of the 737 MAX 8 that have been forced to ground their aircraft from flying in certain countries.”