Vandalism / Insurance Claims

[LevelWing]

My Mooney was broken into a couple weeks ago. The thieves stole the DG (and cut the vacuum hose), whiskey compass, removed the leather wrapping on the pilot side yolk, the mic button, cut the mic wires, and attempted to steal the attitude indicator (joke is on them, it wasn't working very well anyway) bent part of the metal panel trying to remove stuff, and broke the faux wood panel covering into a few pieces. There were cameras at the airport but conveniently not working. I've filed a report with law enforcement but there's really not much chance they're going to catch them. At this point I'm more worried about what happens next.  

I called AVEMCO and they were very reluctant to speak in generalities/hypotheticals and they refused to commit to not dropping me when my plan is up. However they said with vandalism being out of my control it's not likely they'll drop me or raise my premium. I probably don't have it insured for what it's worth in this market, but it's insured enough to take care of all the damage.

This leads me to my questions. What experiences do you have with filing insurance claims? Anybody ever had vandalism damage before?

I already paid a deposit on new equipment in the panel with @Warren, however we're not located anywhere near each other and so I'll need to get it airworthy enough to get it to him. For those curious, that upgrade includes a G5 and a Garmin 375. I'm open to other suggestions if insurance is going to take care of this for me.

I've already contacted a mechanic (who hasn't gotten back to me) about doing a once over to ensure it's mechanically sound so I can at least ferry it to another airport. Getting it to @Warren is a problem for another time.

Thanks for any suggestions you have.

[toto]

Sheesh, this sounds like a thief that knows nothing about airplanes. I can’t imagine that a DG is worth the risk of jail time.

Parker should know about the potential impact of a vandalism claim. 

@Parker_Woodruff

[Utah20Gflyer]

Sorry that happened to you, that's so frustrating and stupid.  But then again if the average criminal was smart they would be a politician.  

[steingar]

I had a much much larger claim for something that was entirely my fault.  I'm still insured.  The insurer's job is to insure you.  If the damage is covered in your policy they should be paying.

[Parker_Woodruff]

I imagine a lot of the expense depends on if this plane is easily repairable where it's presently based or if it needs to be moved to be repaired.  If the parts stolen & broken aren't needed after the avionics upgrade, I'd analyze what's the bare minimum you need to do to get it airworthy enough to fly and determine if that amount is worth filing a claim over.

[LANCECASPER]

14 hours ago, LevelWing said:

My Mooney was broken into a couple weeks ago. The thieves stole the DG (and cut the vacuum hose), whiskey compass, removed the leather wrapping on the pilot side yolk, the mic button, cut the mic wires, and attempted to steal the attitude indicator (joke is on them, it wasn't working very well anyway) bent part of the metal panel trying to remove stuff, and broke the faux wood panel covering into a few pieces. There were cameras at the airport but conveniently not working. I've filed a report with law enforcement but there's really not much chance they're going to catch them. At this point I'm more worried about what happens next.  

I called AVEMCO and they were very reluctant to speak in generalities/hypotheticals and they refused to commit to not dropping me when my plan is up. However they said with vandalism being out of my control it's not likely they'll drop me or raise my premium. I probably don't have it insured for what it's worth in this market, but it's insured enough to take care of all the damage.

This leads me to my questions. What experiences do you have with filing insurance claims? Anybody ever had vandalism damage before?

I already paid a deposit on new equipment in the panel with @Warren, however we're not located anywhere near each other and so I'll need to get it airworthy enough to get it to him. For those curious, that upgrade includes a G5 and a Garmin 375. I'm open to other suggestions if insurance is going to take care of this for me.

I've already contacted a mechanic (who hasn't gotten back to me) about doing a once over to ensure it's mechanically sound so I can at least ferry it to another airport. Getting it to @Warren is a problem for another time.

Thanks for any suggestions you have.

You don't have a lot of options if Avemco drops you. If you're re-doing the panel anyway I can't imagine what the upside would be to filing a claim. Hopefully someone on here has some instruments that they've removed that they could loan you until the upgrade.

[AH-1 Cobra Pilot]

1 hour ago, Utah20Gflyer said:

...if the average criminal was smart they would be a politician.  

I have known numerous of both.  The only way I could tell the difference is that the politicians wore suits.

[AH-1 Cobra Pilot]

15 hours ago, LevelWing said:

What experiences do you have with filing insurance claims?

I had AVEMCO when I had hail damage on my C-152.  The adjuster gave me several options, from reskinning to accepting a check for 10% of the insured hull value.  I chose the latter for simplicity.  When I sold the airplane a few years later, the buyer discounted the price for the hail damage, but less than I had received in the insurance settlement.  The claim had no effect on my rates.

[Warren]

I think you should be able to get it to VFR minimum status with a few repairs.  The required instruments are pretty minimal.

Whiskey compass - I have one out of a K that you can have.

Vacuum hoses - need to be plugged/repaired for integrity of the vacuum system.

Mic wires.  At least need to do a little temporary work to get a functional radio.  It can be cleaned up better in the avionics shop.

[LevelWing]

6 hours ago, Parker_Woodruff said:

I imagine a lot of the expense depends on if this plane is easily repairable where it's presently based or if it needs to be moved to be repaired.  If the parts stolen & broken aren't needed after the avionics upgrade, I'd analyze what's the bare minimum you need to do to get it airworthy enough to fly and determine if that amount is worth filing a claim over.

As long as it's mechanically sound (and I think it is; I just want to have a mechanic give it a once over to make sure) then I can ferry it to an airport with a few minor repairs on site.

6 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

You don't have a lot of options if Avemco drops you. If you're re-doing the panel anyway I can't imagine what the upside would be to filing a claim. Hopefully someone on here has some instruments that they've removed that they could loan you until the upgrade.

The bolded statement is rather concerning. Not only should I not be dropped for something outside of my control but not having a lot of options in the insurance world is also not good. The entire panel wasn't scheduled for an upgrade, just a few instruments. I may have to add a few extra things to it now. I'm not convinced I should file a claim yet, though.

5 hours ago, AH-1 Cobra Pilot said:

I had AVEMCO when I had hail damage on my C-152.  The adjuster gave me several options, from reskinning to accepting a check for 10% of the insured hull value.  I chose the latter for simplicity.  When I sold the airplane a few years later, the buyer discounted the price for the hail damage, but less than I had received in the insurance settlement.  The claim had no effect on my rates.

Good to hear. I haven't been overly impressed with AVEMCO when dealing with them on the phone, but I've never had to file a claim.

34 minutes ago, Warren said:

I think you should be able to get it to VFR minimum status with a few repairs.  The required instruments are pretty minimal.

Whiskey compass - I have one out of a K that you can have.

Vacuum hoses - need to be plugged/repaired for integrity of the vacuum system.

Mic wires.  At least need to do a little temporary work to get a functional radio.  It can be cleaned up better in the avionics shop.

Agreed. Just a matter of getting it setup.

Anybody interested in flying with me to drop it off at @Warren's shop?

[carusoam]

Bummer…

You are about to bump into something the insurance cos call betterment…

Pay close attention to what the value of the devices are, in their current worn state…

The bits and pieces stolen were really low buck devices… and are nearing the end of their expected lives…. Defining really dumb or desperate criminal…
 

Check in with @Alan Fox he is our panel go to guy for all kinds of replacement devices….

 

What’s the flight distance between you and Warren? 
 

Don’t be ashamed to have somebody else ferry the plane for you…. That is typically a cost covered by insurance….

Expect to have to talk with your insurance company… lots of details to be covered…

Start writing a list of all your costs that need to be covered to get you back whole…

Insurance companies cover a lot of unexpected stuff… and don’t cover the things you would think they should… your list will be important…

 

Good luck with your next steps…

Best regards,

-a- 

[FlyboyKC]

I didn't have Avemco, but when my Cherokee Six got broken into at the Airport the thieves did $12k worth of damage and loss. (they broke into 13 airplanes). The thieves new what they were doing as it didn't seem like a smash and grab.

 I was with Global Ins at the time (2011). They were very easy to deal with from start to finish. All I had to do was provide a quote from the Avionics Shop and a police report and the insurance paid everything. I didn't get dropped since, the airplane was in a secured location and locked.