insurance catch

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi all,
FYI,
Our annual insurance became due on our waiex. My father and i on the premium, 59 and 86 yrs old. The nice lady just told us AIG has stopped insuring our aircraft type. Weve had a few C172,’s, a C177, bonanza V35, 2 PA30 twin commanche’s, tri pacer, vari eze. never a claim.

I guess the accident rate for our community too high.
She’s trying to get another to pick up our premimum. we had liability only on the waiex.
We even offered to take my father off the premium. No go.
So many accidents on kathrynsreport everyday. Weve done this to ourselves.
Fuel, weather, lack of attention to detail.
are you ready to fly today? physical health, mental health. is the plane in good operating condition? if not fix all squawks before flight.
Any others premimus due?
We hold private, commercial, multi ratings, plenty of td time.

be safe ! fly safe!

WaiexN143NM
Michael

[pappas]

I have been insuring my Waiex, RV-8, and now my Waiex B through Falcon Insurance via EAA. I pay about $1350 per year for million-dollar liability and $60k hull insurance in motion. Give them a call.

[WaiexN143NM]

Thanks lou,
the insurance agent will be back to us soon. basically i think there is only about 4 major underwriters to deal with.
im guessing the liability will be up to around $700, full hull like you have $1300-1400.
we were paying about $535 for liability.
too many accidents in GA , too many payouts.
would hate to think what a newbie or someone with previous claim would have to pay.


WaiexN143NM
Michael

[builderflyer]

Michael, back before 2018 I was paying in the high $200s for $1 mil. liability only through Falcon/ Global. Then, overnight, they raised the rate to mid $400s. That got me looking back to Avemco who had insured every airplane I've owned since 1966. Previously, Avemco had priced me out but now their rate was also in the mid $400s. But before I signed up with Avemco, though, I had a long conversation with one of their underwriters regarding the aging pilot. (Note that the beauty of working with Avemco is that you actually speak with an "underwriter", not simply an "agent").

The Avemco underwriter told me a story that they actually had insured a 100 year old pilot who had a current medical and flight review. But since Avemco had a concern regarding the pilot's age, they actually spoke with him only to learn that he never flew solo any longer and that "he didn't get to the age of 100 by being stupid". That put Avemco more at ease. The underwriter went on to tell me that they normally make only one distinction regarding the older pilot and that is that there is a one time rate increase when the pilot turns 80 years old. I do, however, have a friend who insures his Bonanza through Avemco. He is in his 80s, he's had claims, he's had health issues.......so Avemco requires that he have more frequent flight reviews and medical exams, but they still insure him.

So I signed up with Avemco and just had the first renewal on the policy for the same amount as the year before even though I lost a multi-plane discount. I credit the current rate to the fact that I submitted a supplemental letter with the renewal form where in that letter I argued the case as to why my airplane and why myself, as the pilot, should receive the lowest possible rate they can offer. I believe they listened.

Good luck with your and your dad's insurance quest,

Art,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Sonex taildragger #95,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Jabiru 3300 #261
CSMEL, Instrument, 4,400 TT, 1,100 TD, 600 time in type, 55 years as a pilot with no claims.

[WaiexN143NM]

hi art, all,
thanks for the info. when we had the second twin commanche and my dad turned 70 thats when we sold it. the rates quadrupled. never a claim on any planes. they said they were worried by stats that his age and forget to put the gear down. two engine rebuilds, 2 new hartzell cs props, belly reskinned with new antennas. $$$$$.
sorry but when i read kathrynsreport daily i look at the info in the write ups. look at the ages involved. lots of times its
older 70+ in age. i hope to be around and flying in my 70’s.
again goes back to basics, weather especially winds and fuel. especially flying for fun. tommorrow can always be better to go fly. i see alot of the same items over and over in the light sport community. doors, canopies not secured latched , fuel exhaustion, flying in winds not conducive to safety.
i’ll post what our agent offers/ comes up with. i hope i have some beer money left for the sos tent at oshkosh.

WaiexN143NM
Michael

[GraemeSmith]

For Boston FSDO region for YE 2019 - preliminary data shows that half the 22 investigated accidents were with +65 yo pilots whose Flight Review was due very soon or actually overdue. Overdue flight review gives insurers a reason to deny a claim...

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi Graeme,
Yes ive posted before that im shocked in alot of the accidents the pilot had no rating for that type of flight or aircraft. Out of bieannual. Aircraft out of registery, insurance, annual, 100 hr , what have you . Yep the insurance and faa look to see every i dotted t’s crossed. If not u got no coverage and looking for a license suspension and fine from the faa. Some people roll the dice until....


WaiexN143NM
Michael

[pappas]

I guess that if half of the incidents in the Boston FSDO were 65 + yo pilots......that the other half were... under 65 years old?? Perhaps, I don't know, math is hard!! ;-)

[GraemeSmith]

I guess that if half of the incidents in the Boston FSDO were 65 + yo pilots......that the other half were... under 65 years old?? Perhaps, I don't know, math is hard!! ;-)

Ha Ha. And you would be right!

But the other way to try and describe it (without the graph) is 11 accidents pretty uniformly over a 47 year spread and flight reviews were current to just coming up. and 11 in a 14 year clump (oldest was 79) where they were all at te end of their flight review or had simply expired and some significantly.

[builderflyer]

My belief, without necessarily having the hard data to back it up, is that the real issue is currency, not when was the last flight review. I live on an airpark and it is both surprising and disappointing to observe how little the resident older pilots fly their airplanes........so little that I don't know how they remain proficient. For them, a flight review may very well be the most time they sat in their planes at one time since their last flight review. These pilots seem to have lost their enthusiasm for flying or it could just be that the cost of 100LL has discouraged them. In any event, they are not yet ready to sell their airplanes and move on.

An example of lack of currency is a neighbor of mine who flies a Harmon Rocket. He built it, he's flown it about a thousand hours, and now it sits in the hangar most of the time. Last year, at the same time he was receiving the FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, he bounced it in hard and had a prop strike. How ironic and no excuses other than a lack of currency.

Moral of this story.........fly as often as you can.........hopefully at least 50 hours a year, especially as you age. Otherwise, it may just make sense to move on to a more forgiving endeavour.

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