Insurance Suggestions?

[gitmo234]

I'm getting insurance quotes for my purchase (now being inspected). I have ~200 hours but only 2 hours in retractable (it was a mooney). 

Any recommendations on insurance? I might be going with Wings financial and they require full coverage, vs just paying cash and getting minimal for this year. A few days ago I found someone recommending an insurance company that was particularly good/cheap with low time pilots. I've lost the link and cant remember the name.

[gitmo234]

(found the company I heard mentioned...airpower insurance). I've also got a quote out through USAA

[carusoam]

If military or ex military or family of ex military... USAA has always (since the 1960s at least) been a good place to start.

Falcon is the group that USAA goes to for aviation insurance.

Falcon is a broker who searches for the best insurance from a bunch of insurance companies.

Sort of an old fashion kind of a business in a modern world.

Go USAA!

Best regards,

-a-

[Bryan]

I went thru AOPA Insurance which matched me with STARR insurance.  I had to have a check-out because of low Make/Model time.  I think the checkout was like 5hrs dual and maybe 5 solo before carrying passengers.  IMO, you need at least 5 hours with a Mooney pilot for transition training anyway.

[TTaylor]

Generally it is better to find a good broker and work with them.  They will shop all the insurance companies and work each year to find the best package for you.  I have worked with Pat Costello at Costello Insurance in Phoenix for many years. He shops all the market each year and gives us options.  He was able to find me insurance in the middle of a purchase when AOPA pulled out suddenly because I had to ferry the plane 15 miles for an annual even though I had informed them of the ferry flight before I got the policy.

Let the brokers  do the work for you.

http://www.aviationi.com/aviationihome.htm

Tim

 

 

[Skates97]

22 minutes ago, carusoam said:

If military or ex military or family of ex military... USAA has always (since the 1960s at least) been a good place to start.

Falcon is the group that USAA goes to for aviation insurance.

Falcon is a broker who searches for the best insurance from a bunch of insurance companies.

Sort of an old fashion kind of a business in a modern world.

Go USAA!

Best regards,

-a-

+1 on USAA and Falcon. I went with them for my non-owners when I was taking my PPL lessons. When I bought the Mooney I went to them and a few others for quotes. A couple others came back a little lower and less transition time, but everyone was using STARR for underwriting. So I went back to Falcon with the other quotes and they came back with a lower rate and matched the transition time requirements. As a bonus they gave me a credit for the time remaining on my non-owners and applied it to my new policy.

[gitmo234]

Good to hear I didnt (and haven't) gone wrong with USAA/Falcon. 

When I pick up my bird this summer I'll have roughly a 6 hour flight from OK to MD. Taking my CFI there, and I plan on using that as my flight review (due this month), and my transition training/endorsements with some stops along the way for getting some practice.

I was a bit babied by a '56 Cessna with johnson bar 40 degree flaps. I couldve been on the moon with a 1 mile final to sea level and dropped to 40 degree flaps and still hit the numbers

[KLRDMD]

1 hour ago, gitmo234 said:

I'm getting insurance quotes for my purchase (now being inspected). I have ~200 hours but only 2 hours in retractable (it was a mooney). Any recommendations on insurance? 

I can HIGHLY recommend Wendy Wenk at Wenk Aviation. wendy@wenkaviation.com (800) 225-9365. I don't believe anyone I've ever sent her has not gone with her. She will get you the absolute best rate with tremendous customer service. She saved a friend of mine 50% over the best quote he got from another broker ands seems to always save everyone money.

[Skates97]

28 minutes ago, KLRDMD said:

I can HIGHLY recommend Wendy Wenk at Wenk Aviation. wendy@wenkaviation.com (800) 225-9365. I don't believe anyone I've ever sent her has not gone with her. She will get you the absolute best rate with tremendous customer service. She saved a friend of mine 50% over the best quote he got from another broker ands seems to always save everyone money.

Wendy is very helpful. I had already talked with others before talking with her. I gave her the quotes that I had received and she said she couldn't match them, but she did spend some time talking with me to help me negotiate between the quotes that I had already received which led to me getting USAA/Falcon to go back to the underwriter and come back with a better rate. She said that once I have time in type/model (I was just a brand new PPL with no complex) that she should be able to do much better. All she asked for her time was when it came time to renew that I give her another shot at it which I will.

[brad]

Been with Travers Aviation for 15 years.  Two Mooneys and a Grumman.  Best rates anywhere.

[gitmo234]

This may change some. I'm deployed for several more months and as part of the sale I negotiated continued hangar storage and run ups every couple weeks. 

I played a few lenders off each other and ended up getting the amount I needed unsecured and better than what wings financial could offer (3.74%), so its effectively a cash sale. I can go minimum liability for the first year (or six months), then bump it up to what she deserves after and I'll have more time in type/etc

[MooneyMitch]

May I suggest,

Dana Boucher, Aviation Insurance Broker

Aviation Solutions, a Marsh & McLennan Agency

7015 College Boulevard, Suite 400, Overland Park, KS 66211

d. 913.529.3213  o. 913.491.1999  c. 816.510.5462  Dana.Boucher@marshmma.com

www.marshmclennanagency.com  www.marshmma.com

[mooniac15u]

7 hours ago, gitmo234 said:

This may change some. I'm deployed for several more months and as part of the sale I negotiated continued hangar storage and run ups every couple weeks. 

I played a few lenders off each other and ended up getting the amount I needed unsecured and better than what wings financial could offer (3.74%), so its effectively a cash sale. I can go minimum liability for the first year (or six months), then bump it up to what she deserves after and I'll have more time in type/etc

I hope you will rethink your insurance coverage. If you have a significant loan you might want to think of the hull insurance as loan insurance.  The loss of a plane is bad enough. Continuing to pay on a loan for a plane you can no longer fly could ruin your day. 

[flight2000]

When the heck did USAA start doing aviation insurance???  I've been a member since 1997 and this is the first time I've heard this. 

I know they won't do loans on aircraft, because I asked...

Brian

P.S. Also with Travers.  They had my Mooney and then my current Beech since 2009.  Best rates I found, especially on the Bo.

[gsxrpilot]

I had AOPA the first year and then moved over to Falcon. I will likely leave Falcon when my year is up assuming I can get the same rate somewhere else. It's a very small thing, but Falcon won't support any type of online/electronic payment. They require a check in the US Mail as the only accepted form of payment. Like I said, a small thing but all other things being equal, I'll find a vendor with a more up to date method of accepting payments.

[Bob_Belville]

Just now, gsxrpilot said:

I had AOPA the first year and then moved over to Falcon. I will likely leave Falcon when my year is up assuming I can get the same rate somewhere else. It's a very small thing, but Falcon won't support any type of online/electronic payment. They require a check in the US Mail as the only accepted form of payment. Like I said, a small thing but all other things being equal, I'll find a vendor with a more up to date method of accepting payments.

Hum, I've paid Falcon for a couple of years using my on line banking account. Of course the bank has to send a physical check to payees who do not have electronic payment capacity but I do not have to write the check or pay for envelope and postage.

[gsxrpilot]

1 minute ago, Bob_Belville said:

Hum, I've paid Falcon for a couple of years using my on line banking account. Of course the bank has to send a physical check to payees who do not have electronic payment capacity but I do not have to write the check or pay for envelope and postage.

Interesting... I've used that for other vendors, but my Falcon rep strongly suggested I shouldn't do this... maybe it's just my rep.

[Bob_Belville]

9 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

Interesting... I've used that for other vendors, but my Falcon rep strongly suggested I shouldn't do this... maybe it's just my rep.

I didn't ask. A check is a check. (Come to think of it, I did get an email one year asking if I had sent payment. I sent them the bank confirmation and I suppose they found the payment, they emailed my policy.)

[Skates97]

1 hour ago, flight2000 said:

When the heck did USAA start doing aviation insurance???  I've been a member since 1997 and this is the first time I've heard this. 

I know they won't do loans on aircraft, because I asked...

Brian

P.S. Also with Travers.  They had my Mooney and then my current Beech since 2009.  Best rates I found, especially on the Bo.

It's not USAA that does the insurance. Falcon has reps that specifically handle USAA clients and they have a discounted rate for them. Let me know if you want contact emails for the reps I was in contact with.

[DXB]

2 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

Interesting... I've used that for other vendors, but my Falcon rep strongly suggested I shouldn't do this... maybe it's just my rep.

 Huh wierd. I have them on my bank's bill pay with no issue.  

[M20F]

+1 for Falcon

[Danb]

I've been using Dennis Einstein for years over 30,at Wilmington, just got this yrs quote, no increase again, he's a broker,been with a Republic for six yrs or so.

[Marauder]

I've been using Dennis Einstein for years over 30,at Wilmington, just got this yrs quote, no increase again, he's a broker,been with a Republic for six yrs or so.

So he is not just a knuckle busting DPE?


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[midlifeflyer]

Another shout for an independent broker who will shop coverage: Caytlin or Dick at SuttonJames located at Brainard Airport in Connecticut. https://www.suttonjames.com

cjones-henry@suttonjames.com or rkenney@suttonjames.com. Main office number (860) 249-8066. You can actually use my name with them, not that it would get you better rates.

[gitmo234]

I won't be using Einstein insurance ever. During my exam he crossed the line of professionalism enough that others around me who heard him raising his voice/yelling came up to me after and apologized (total strangers), etc. Even got mad at me for ignoring my VOR because I was following instructions given by tower and lost it then. I was a test case for my CFI to see if he could start using him again (I hear a lot of people stopped using him), and the consensus was "no".

He would have to pay me for my business and he doesn't have enough for that.

Edited April 6, 2017 by gitmo234