Insurance

[GoingHawgWyld]

So I converted my Series 7 from a tri gear to a tail wheel. Had full coverage on the plane prior and it was running about $1050 a year. Contacted the company I was with and they quoted a new policy amount of $2800 a year for full coverage. So I called two others. One I am still waiting for a reply but the other quoted $2785 a year. Was told basically the coverage for the most part for a tail wheel airplane for full coverage is about 3X the amount for a tri gear... Will make a couple more calls and see if this pattern holds true. Guess I will be spending a day converting it back... Shame on me for not doing this before I started the conversion.

[Av8r3400]

Now that I have a couple hundred hours of tw time Falcon (EAA) charges me $1200 per year for full coverage at $40k value.

I started at $700 per year liab only until I built up some time.

[ken nougaret]

just curious; if i have 100 hrs in an aeronca champ, will that bring the cost of insurance down? does the insurance company just take your word on what your experience is?
ken

[GoingHawgWyld]

They will take your word for how ever many hours you have to establish the policy but if you have an accident you may and probably will have to provide your log book. If they find you lied they will not honor the policy.

I think it is more important to have the insurance in the beginning when your hours are lower as that is probably the time when something is most likely to happen. obviously thats why it is higher. I just think that $2800 is way to much. My Luscombe is only $1125 so the penalty seems to be the "Experimental" part...

[HighWing]

[quote= does the insurance company just take your word on what your experience is?
ken[/quote]

I would say yes, as the policy is written. However, and this may be big, if you ever file a claim, you will show them everything - ask me how I know. If there is the slightest hint of impropriety, I think you will find that you paid a premium - maybe a lower premium - for no real coverage. When I applied for coverage on my new Model IV, I specifically asked how many hours I would need before the insurance kicked in and was told that it would be effective immediately, meaning first flight, if I was in full compliance with the regulations. I have always taken the insurance companies as the real inforcers of the FARs.

My recent quote is a little less than av8r3400 with a slghtly lower hull value. I think the 200 hours is very informative. I had more than that, but none in the previous 5 years except for a couple of hours a year ago for a BFR. I also reported 0 in the last six months and 0 in the last 90 days. It makes me wonder if someone paid the increased premium then spent the year doing lots of touch and goes or full stop landings showing a bunch of hours as well, would the lower premium kick in for the next year.

One other thought, try to avoid cutting the premium by discounting the replacement value. My understanding is that if the cost of repairs exceeds the declared value, the insurance company can declare a total loss and claim ownership of the airplane. I was still recouparating from our "crash" when a guy from the FSDO came by and the first thing he said was "You understand that the insurance company essentially owns your airplane". I hadn't filed a claim, but they had taken possession of everything that was not considered "personal property".
Lowell

[rogerh12]

Checking around a few years back, EAA had the best deals for Experimental planes with new pilots, probably ½ the cost of others, and my plan was zero deductible and included medical for myself and a passenger, so really it was better too. Even so, my model 2 tail dragger cost so much to insure that my model 4 has been converted to a noise gear, though it’s not yet insured or flying, I would expect a rate of $100 a month, based on my Zenith 601 HDS rate (during the fly off period, and I had less than 200 hours total).

Also, other companies don’t really want to insure you (a low hour tail dragger pilot in an untested new plane) in my opinion, and certainly not in a tail dragger that they know you will ground loop (whether you report it or not, you will….). Also, as I recall, only EAA insurance will cover you during the 40 hour fly off, right from the get-go, the others won’t do the first 10 hours, if they allow it at all.

Hope this helps

Roger