Aircraft Insurance for the older (80+) pilot in the U.S.

[pilotyoung]

Art,

Good job continuing to talk to Avemco. I am glad that they will insure a sport pilot aircraft without requiring a medical.

[Jim1342]

I clicked on https://air-pros.com/ and Malwarebytes blocked it.

[Bryan Cotton]

I clicked on https://air-pros.com/ and Malwarebytes blocked it.

I'm not having issues there. You can email Victoria directly. Both Dale and I posted her email on the previous page.

[daleandee]

I clicked on https://air-pros.com/ and Malwarebytes blocked it.

I got that too on my laptop but it came up fine on my iPhone. Sometimes a script running in the banner will cause that. I told Malwarebytes to allow it and it works just fine.

Dale
3.0 Corvair/Tailwheel

[13brv3]

FWIW, I use air-pros also, but through Tracey Martin tmartin@air-pros.com She's just been fantastic.
Rusty

[builderflyer]

Judging by what I've learned over the past couple of weeks, the subject title could have more appropriately have referred to the 75+ pilot. I currently have 1 million dollar liability policies from Avemco (they are the underwriter) on each of my airplanes, a Sonex and a Cessna 150. After obtaining quotes for liability insurance on my two airplanes from the AOPA sponsored insurance broker (Assured Partners Aerospace) and after having a lengthy discussion with the EAA sponsored insurance broker (Falcon), here's some of what I've learned:

1. Except for a very limited number of underwriters that will provide a quote for "high risk" pilots, none of the usual airplane underwriters such as Global, AIG, etc. will now write a "new" policy for pilots over the age of 75. If a pilot already has a policy in effect when they become older than 75, the policy may generally continue on at least until the pilot reaches 85 whereupon the policy may or may not be terminated, depending on the specific underwriter. An example of "high risk" rates for $1 mil liability insurance that I was quoted are $3,683 for my Sonex and $943 for my Cessna 150. The rates that Avemco has quoted me for renewal of my current liability only policy are $612 for my Sonex and $402 for my Cessna 150.
2. Don't go broker shopping. If your are happy with your current broker, stay with them. There are only a few underwriters that write airplane insurance policies and they become an annoyed when they receive requests from multiple brokers for insurance quotes for the same individual.
3. Read the fine print on an airplane insurance quote very carefully. In my case, Avemco slipped some unacceptable language into the renewal quote that I had first overlooked. As of November 2023, for us older pilots, they now said that for coverage on both the Sonex and the Cessna, I'd have to have an annual medical exam by an FAA approved medical examiner. That sounded a lot like a 3rd class medical. When I pointed out to them that the Sonex was a light sport aircraft and could be flown by a pilot with a driver's license, they dropped the annual medical exam requirement for that airplane. For coverage on the Cessna 150, and once they understood that I was flying under basic med, they changed the medical requirement to read that a basic med physical had to be completed annually. Regarding the flight review requirement, Avemco has not budged on their insistence that I complete an annual flight review in each of the insured airplanes. So that means that previously when in the time span that one flight review was required, I'll now have to have four flight reviews. Thankfully, I don't own and insure 3 or 4 airplanes as that would mean I'd have to complete 6 or 8 flight reviews every two years. They really need to think about this requirement more closely.

For now it appears that my only practical option is to renew the policy with Avemco. Their rates, given my age, are reasonable. Their medical and flight review requirements are a nuisance but doable. For those of you that are approaching 75 years of age, make sure your airplane insurance needs are locked in before its too late

Thanks to all of you who responded to this subject.

Art,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Sonex taildragger #95,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Jabiru 3300 #261

[N190YX]

I have to have a flight review every 12 months with AVEMCO. Not a problem for me and I use it as an opportunity to review the POH for my certified airplane prior to the flight review. I look for a different instructor each time to get more value instead of doing the same things every year. The oral portions of the flight review are typically more than half the time of the flight review and different instructors cover different material in the oral portion. As I keep current, flying 70-80 hours a year, the flying portion is rarely more than 60 minutes, which usually include approaches to stalls in various configurations and power settings, steep turns, and short field takeoffs and landings. If you have to have a flight review in each of more than one airplane, I suggest you do them at the same time so as to only need one oral portion, then no more than an hour in each airplane. By the time you start the engine and start taxiing, an instructor will have a pretty good idea what kind of pilot you are.