Parker_Woodruff

You could, in theory. But you'd lose some other efficiencies and I imagine rates would have to go up substantially.

At least two insurance carriers offer this, but they also limit cosmetic hail claims to 10% of the aircraft's value. There is no limit that the factory has set for hail damage depth upon which would cause the airplane to be unairworthy. This means that almost any aluminum damage to your Mooney is cosmetic. You might end up with some new golf ball technology and a settlement check for 10% of your agreed value.

Across my book of piston aircraft, it appears hull claims are coming in at an average of around $52,000. Median claim is in the low-mid $60,000s. These numbers are before deductibles which, in this data, range from $0 to 2.5% of the aircraft's insured value.

What if I told you light, personal use aircraft typically have the worst loss ratio of all lines of business and the other lines of business subsidize light GA which was truly a loss leader? At some point, the buckets where we hope to allocate our risk get muddled.

This is for the previous 12 calendar months for aircraft policies of all insureds, including those who have not been with me for a full year. This excludes shop claims where physical damage was done to a plane due to improper maintenance or due to ground handling of an aircraft. Being a growing agency where a high percentage of the airplanes I insure for the previous year haven't been with me for a full year, I think the true number is probably closer to 1/35 planes which will have a first-party claim in a given year (for my agency). I suspect many agencies have claims on 4-5% of aircraft they insure per year. It is true - different agencies attract more and less risky clients and subsequently experience different loss ratios. I could prove that back when I was an underwriter. This is something I have been able to track now that I upgraded agency management systems and will be sure to continually post to MooneySpace.

The Hull rate involves dollars the and accident rate involves a percentage of the fleet which may or may not return to service after the accident. And a lot of stuff goes unreported. Current stats within my agency show about 1/40 airplanes I insure experiences a hull claim - and my agency’s loss ratio (in dollars) is much better than most agencies - I’m certain of that from my past experience as an underwriter.

The passengers were the small bit. The Grounding Liability claims from all the operators for their unairworthy planes were the biggest segment of this whole deal.

I get what you're saying. However... I have serviced hundreds of clients in my two stints as an agent. I've serviced dozens of claims. I think there has only been one gear up in the mix and a whole bunch of completely random (and expensive) claims that couldn't have been foreseen. Hull coverage is the best value in aviation, IMO. I've flown with Don many times and I'm confident he's the last person in the world who will forget the gear.

I suspect some unfortunate insurance strategy upon renewal last time around...or at least some things weren't disclosed (wasn't me, I promise!)

Don, this bold point right here is exactly why I shy away from liability only policies. It's a wide range. For a plane like yours, my gut says the minimum would be avionics value (a really bad accident), and the maximum might be $45K if the circumstances were just right and the plane was just barely totaled.

Goodness I'm glad I live close to Maxwell and SWTA.

Didn't Mooney have another panel color that's a really light gray or was that earlier on?

Well you would have primary coverage and you would be covered while he flies your plane. That's not to say the insurance company couldn't subrogate - that depends on the policy language. Most insurance company applications ask if anyone else has regular access to the aircraft...they want to know about general exposure. During the underwriting period (typically 60 days or so from the policy inception) they can add exclusions or cancel the policy for material reasons. This is why they're adamant about getting an application within 30 days.

They do not allow items weighing more than 10 ounces or I think 1/2 inch thick to be shipped using stamps without being handled by a USPS retail person (I used some spares before creating a Pitney Bowes Account). They flag it with "GROUND TRANSPORT ONLY" and another sticker and return. So I took it to a retail agent. They hand canceled the stamps in person and sent again. It was returned a few days later with the same two security stickers. I took it to a retail agent again. They said the other retail agent should have put a "no postage due" sticker on it.

Even better yours didn't get flagged as a security concern and returned back to me like a couple of them . Someone at the post office must have been practicing for a job at the TSA.

I appreciate the compliment. Airspeed is reaching that critical mass where there will soon be a need to hire some talent to keep this level up but we will be sure they are aviation competent and insurance competent so no one feels like they're being "handed off." In the meantime, I've made some tech investments to help increase my capacity.

As @toto said, AssuredPartners manages their book. AOPA likely gets a royalty as many of the affinity programs work this way. And we can still get the AOPA discount for you that Old Republic and AIG offer, should they be the best option.

Great work, Don!

Most of the time where the airplane is principally based.

I'm just glad it wasn't me paying when an untied C172 jumped its chocks in a storm and hit my M20K. Even the non pilot error losses aren't cheap.

If you get too far off the beaten path of insurance rates, you can end up with a market conduct review from your state insurance regulator. Though the filings are generally pretty broad, in many cases there are filed rates that carriers have to stay within. Also, keep in mind a lot of this is well-meaning underwriters who work for publicly traded companies and don't want to end up in hot water if there was ever a loss on an outlier risk, no matter how great the pilot. Enough about that though - we will certainly enjoy Don's company around here whether he is flying a Mooney, Piper, or Cessna.

Don's predicament inspired me to write my post in the forum about pilot age and careful strategy to stay insurable. Even though Don's most recent flight review has my signature in it and I fly with him multiple times per year, we are having quite a challenge. ...and just as we have some wonderful Fall flying weather coming to Dallas this week...

Some carriers have a higher deductible for gear forgetfulness or gear failure. But insurance is there for basically every other mistake which results in physical damage to the plane...why not gear up losses, too?

Each policy form for each carrier is approved in each state. New York is in the top 3 most difficult states to deal with for insurance companies. I say this as someone who has 99 insurance licenses between myself and my agency. The worst states: New York: It's a government black hole. Good luck cutting through the red tape which guards the black hole. Massachusetts: Only the USVI and Puerto Rico are more expensive to get established. California: It's expensive and a lot of paperwork, but they need your money so bad they make it really easy to accomplish Virginia: Don't get me started on the business requirements for the beloved Commonwealth. West Virginia: Issued me a 3 month license for $200 then demanded I renew around my birthday for $200 more. Fun way to spend a lot of money...all these licenses...

I'm hopeful rates will improve for you, but unfortunately one of my solid carriers doesn't write policies in New York or you'd be looking at 30-40% reduction this coming year.