Insurance

[base698]

I'm a low time pilot (slightly more than 80 hours).  Wondering how you get conditional insurance I've seen mentioned here: Ie. You need a CFI until you have X hours in type until you can solo/carry passengers.  Was also planning on doing IFR asap in it.  Hard to price things out if you can't know what insurance costs

 

 

 

 

 

[Will W]

Sure.  Tell us about yourself.  What is your hull value going to be of the aircraft?  What aircraft do you want?  Are you a student, recreational, private pilot?  What is your high performance time?  How much do you fly a year?

[John Pleisse]

It's all based mostly on hull value. Which Mooney, valued at how much? There are 2 or three good brokers who will likely chime in on this thread.

[N601RX]

Give Airpower a call and let them run some different hypothetical situations for you.  Several members on here use them and have been happy with the quotes.  They will shop it with all the underwriters and let you choose. I was a low time pilot and wanted 1M Smooth coverage and they were able to get it for me.  Before that I was using a local company who after the 2nd year I found out that they were not shopping the renewal around each year.

 

http://www.airpowerinsurance.com/

[rbridges]

as everyone said, hull value will be the biggest factor.  I got a 5%  deduction for having a closed hangar.  Later, I got 5% discount for instrument rating.  My first year, insurance was a little higher since I had zero retract time and just a little over 100 hours.  It's gone down a little over the last few years, but nothing monumental (but I still consider myself low time at 350-400 hours).

[bonal]

I'm sure I will get some comment but I have been with AOPA since I started my flight training and am very happy with the service I have recieved. also compared to what others have quoted my rates are fair.

[FloridaMan]

Call Falcon Insurance. 

[22 others]

Heres a data point for you. YMMV

I was in a similar spot last year. I found out that it's not all that helpful to get quotes from multiple companies because there are only a few underwriters.

I used US Aircraft finance in Vermont. I had 85 hours in a Muskateer, zero retract time, insured at a 45k hull value. Quoted about $1200 for the year. Needed a checkout from an instructor with Mooney experience. That took about 12 hours dual.

[KSMooniac]

Look up Parker Woodruff on this site and ask him... it should be easy to get you an estimate.

[MooneyBob]

I have 1977 M20J and my first year looked like this:

AIG through AOPA 

I had 120 Total Time

I had 25 Complex

Mandatory 10 hours with CFI in my Mooney 

Mandatory 10 hours solo in the Mooney

Hull $70k ( before any upgrades)

It was around $ 1700

[rbridges]

I have been looking at aircraft in the $50K - $120K range.  M20J is on the list as well as a few other models that are not Mooney's.  I have my private pilot as of two weeks ago, so zero high performance time.  I assume I'll fly between 100 - 200 hours per year.  I did 60 hours in three months of training finishing up.  I got a quote on a 182RG for about $1700 a year, but haven't heard any back from the Mooney quotes, with one or two denials according to AOPA.  

 

Thanks for the help!

 

according to my agent, I was denied by a few companies, too.  I had to do 10 hrs dual and 10 hrs solo before taking passengers.  High performance isn't a factor (I don't believe) since anything J model or less is <200HP.  I think total hours and retrac time will be the most important.

[Parker_Woodruff]

I have been looking at aircraft in the $50K - $120K range.  M20J is on the list as well as a few other models that are not Mooney's.  I have my private pilot as of two weeks ago, so zero high performance time.  I assume I'll fly between 100 - 200 hours per year.  I did 60 hours in three months of training finishing up.  I got a quote on a 182RG for about $1700 a year, but haven't heard any back from the Mooney quotes, with one or two denials according to AOPA.  

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Your Mooney numbers will be about the same as the Cessna 182RG, depending on hull value and model year.

 

I'll PM you my contact info for you to get ahold of me if you haven't talked to any of my excellent coworkers at Falcon yet.

[par]

I used Airpower and I currently pay just a little under $800/year on my C that is worth around 40k. However, most of my time in in turbine aircraft so i'm not sure how that would affect your case. I do recommend you give Airpower a call though...they are very responsive and easy to work with.

[Hank]

I third the recommendation for Falcon. Parker steered me to them and saved me 20% compared to my local broker.

Like you, I bought my Mooney with little time (62 hours, a month after my checkride). Several refusals, two companies quoted high. One was 15 dual + 10 solo, I took 15 dual with approved Mooney CFI. At 100 Mooney hours, 50% discount; two renewals later, picked up Instrument rating, rate dropped by 1/3. Changed to Falcon, saved 20% more. (Thanks, Cliff!!)

Call Parker, talk to the Falcon rep for your area.

[Robert C.]

+1 for Falcon.

 

I went to them after seeing Parker's strong endorsement in earlier threads, and after seeing how they support the Mooney community.

 

As I bought a rather high hull value Ovation and had about 150 hrs, no Complex, no IR, when I bought the aircraft only one company was willing to quote. Cliff at Falcon was quite sure that when its renewal time in August and I have >100hrs in type and my IR there should be several willing to quote at a 20% lower rate. So just buck it up for the 1st year and it'll get both easier and cheaper.

 

Good luck

[DrBill]

I also recommend Falcon... I had AOPA for years and when I got the Mooney they were OK the first year (0 time in retract) and went BONKERS the 2nd when I wanted to up the hull 10K.   So I got a quote from Falcon and was way UNDER what I paid the first year.

I notice big drops when I got my Instrument rating and went over 400 hrs. (FWIW). Started near 2K for a Beech Sundowner and dropped steadily year after year (got my instrument the first year with that plane).

Good luck.

BILL

[RobertGary1]

Be careful with calling different insurance co's. They're all quoting from the same small set of underwriters. The underwriters don't like quoting the same policy to different agents so they'll lock your N number. You'll have to send a letter that you're firing the previous broker that you got a quote from. 

 

So basically, choose your broker first. Then let him choose the underwriter. The cost is going to be the same regardless of the broker but different brokers are better at negotiating terms, handling claims etc. 

 

I highly recommend Southwest Aviation Insurance. They play a lot of golf with the underwriters and can make things happen. I've had a few claims through them and they've been good (including stuck down in Mexico).

 

-Robert

[ryoder]

I already forgot what I paid.

[StinkBug]

Be careful with calling different insurance co's. They're all quoting from the same small set of underwriters. The underwriters don't like quoting the same policy to different agents so they'll lock your N number. You'll have to send a letter that you're firing the previous broker that you got a quote from. 

 

So basically, choose your broker first. Then let him choose the underwriter. The cost is going to be the same regardless of the broker but different brokers are better at negotiating terms, handling claims etc. 

 

I highly recommend Southwest Aviation Insurance. They play a lot of golf with the underwriters and can make things happen. I've had a few claims through them and they've been good (including stuck down in Mexico).

 

-Robert

 

 

Kinda hard for them to lock an N number when you dont have one. I shopped a few places for quotes before actually buying my plane, and none had any trouble getting me quotes with just a type and estimated value. Seems stupid of them to lock anything if they want the money. They've already done the work, just send the same quote out again.

[RobertGary1]

Also kind of pointless to call multiple brokers for a quote when they're all quoting the same policies. Pick a broker for the service not the price.

[N601RX]

The problem is that some insurance brokers are not getting quotes from all the underwriters.  If you are sure the one you are talking to is then there is no reason to call any others. A good broker will forward you the quote from each underwriter as they receive them. Airpower does this and actually advised me to wait for one of the underwriters to respond with a quote as they felt they would offer the best quote for my situation.  It may take 3-4 days to get all the quotes back.