"OP" wrote:
...
But if you get a prop strike or bend a wing spar and the damages
go upward of $30,000 or $40,000, I think the insurance company
is coming after the renter to recoup as much of their cost as they
can.


On average, these suits are halfway across the country; jurisdiction
is where you live and generally crash. So they have to engage counsel
in your state, and who don't mind charging a big corporation at all.

Your first filing with the court costs little or nothing, a simple
denial of the complaint. It's then the plaintiff who gets to spend
big money first, in a factual investigation to cover all possible
defenses you might raise later. Aviation cases are expensive, because
every little thing has to be explained to a jury, which means also
lining up experts. In auto accidents, they don't have this problem
because jurors drive cars. While they're spending all this money, the
defendant need do little. Say at a nontowered field you run into the
freakiest turbulence and wind shear on short final you've ever
encountered there. They have to prove against this defense. Find
others landing at that time. Experts on pilot proficiency expected
for handling this stuff.

So they know they're not taking a $30K case to trial, where it gets
really expensive. The experts clock in at $5K a day plus first class
airfares. Defendant knows that too. Insurance company must assume
that maximum money for them will be a fraction of $30K in a
settlement. It's very easy for them to wind up with a net loss
through litigation. So again I want to know how even occasional such
suits are.

Fred F.