Parker_Woodruff

Well, the LSA guys don't have to have a medical and the BasicMed guys (myself included) only have to visit a physician every 4 years. A lot can change from age 74 to 78. We can't forget that in the middle of this, the Feds mandate a retirement age for ATC to age 56 and ATP jobs to 65 even with 2 people sitting side-by-side. The problem with the data that you ask for is there isn't the large sample size that's more available in the auto insurance world...

It's not arbitrary though. I can think of different insurance underwriting companies with age related underwriting guidelines at ~65, 69, ~72, 75, and 79. The more the government gets involved, the less options there are. A lot of aircraft owners and aviation operators in Missouri found this out a few years ago and the course is finally being corrected. Basically, aviation insurance underwriting regulation in Missouri became so heavy handed that major companies just stopped insuring or writing new business there. I heard one company even got in trouble for charging *too little* on a policy. The same is happening in California where all kinds of insurance companies are just leaving because of regulation. I'm not aware of any aviation insurers leaving California, but I know some of them refuse to get set up to do business there.

Auto insurance companies charge more for younger drivers and older drivers and auto insurance is much more regulated than aviation insurance. Auto insurers allowed to require a medical exam for older drivers. Insurance underwriting is discernment and some might call it "discriminatory" on many underwriting factors. One insurance company flat out won't cover non-hangared planes in many coastal states. Aviation insurers don't have the large numbers. But there's no reason to think that just because someone is in an airplane rather than a car at an older age that their skills aren't subject to decline. Check out Wilson vs. Associated Aviation Underwriters where the there was an attempt at employment and housing regulation to be imposed on insurance underwriting. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/ca-court-of-appeal/1846912.html Insurance as a viable product cannot survive if consumers demand that the exceptions dictate the rule...

Where'd this news come from? I'd be really surprised if that went anywhere.

I am not entirely sure, but the word "discovery" gets brought up a lot... For awhile in Texas (not sure this is still the case), a *jury* wasn't supposed to know if an alleged at-fault driver had insurance. The insurance company would not be named in the suit.

It's probably a combination. Low limits but high net worth? They're probably coming for you anyway.

depending on the plane, it'll probably push 5 figures all-in

The right pilot & aircraft combo could conceivably get $2MM Smooth from the primary underwriting company and then up to $4 or $5MM excess liability. Maybe more. There are still insurance limits out there that I can't believe even exist.

Lower pilot experience? Rate should go down substantially with more pilot experience.

I hadn't heard this but I've always thought just this one incident might not have been the entire cause...and that there was probably structural weakening over time and this was the "final straw".

Thanks for checking in, Joe!

The owner is age 87 or 88 according to an online database. I will note two things, one of which may be unrelated to this accident: - Please make sure go arounds and Stall avoidance are part of your recurrent training, and even moreso as you age. - for your safety, please remove sheepskin seat covers if they’re *at all* in the way of your manual operation of the trim wheel. I don’t care if you have electric trim.

and Cirrus SR20.

There's been some added capacity lately...we'll see what the target segments of the market are...

As a general statement: Newer airframes are still flat on insurance pricing (really, they've barely gone up at all (if any) the past few years). Older airframes slowed with the increases this year. The only pilot group that has *consistently* received increases the past year and a half is the lower time pilots, especially those with under 200 hours total and especially those with low RG time.

If you can get to 50 RG and 50 MM before renewal that might help. Not sure how many days you have till renewal...

1000 total time might help you on the rate table just a little

every carrier is different...there are breaks with various carriers at various points on the way up to and including 100. Maybe 250, but I doubt it.

99.99% in most cases it won't help at all. But it's a great milestone!

There is a strategy to the age thing. There aren’t any guarantees, but any experienced light aircraft insurance broker can lay out a good plan.

I haven't heard of this. But I can tell you that the cases of insurance underwriters not accepting BasicMed are the exception in the insurance world right now...definitely not the rule.

It rarely matters in piston GA. Sometimes it's a requirement by some underwriters for pilots above a certain age. Doesn't seem to be premium-bearing.

Not much assuming a well-qualified pilot. He could likely add it to his policy pro-rata with the loss payee being the owner. Then delete pro-rata when the lease was over. Or the owner could get a dry lease on his policy.

Both are excellent insurance companies. Each has internal claims service (they don't normally have to rely on third party adjusters).

I don't think I've ever seen such an exclusion.