| Author | Message | ||
     jharlow |
I need to renew my insurance and have tried to find an alternate to AVEMCO but as of today AOPA has turned me down saying that none of there underwriters will accept the Express. Is AVEMCO the only game in town? If so it might explain why there price has gone up so much this year. John | ||
| Bob Gisburne (Gisburne) |
John: AOPA solicited my business at renewal time (12/00). They were 25% higher than AVEMCO. Bob Gisburne N4382A | ||
| F. Craig Albright (Craig) |
I'm planning on building the 2000RG. Currently, I have a Mooney 252 and pay about $1,200/yr. for insurance. What can I expect to pay for the 2000RG? I've got about 1,500 hr., ~ 750 hr. complex, instrument rated, commercial license. TIA, Craig Albright '88 Mooney 252 Chandler (CHD), AZ | ||
| Anonymous |
Craig, I think it best if you call Avemco direct and get a quote and then let us know what they said. My first year's insurance for the Express was around $1500 and the 2nd year it jumped to over $2500 and just this monday I called Avemco regarding updating my hours and in general conversation I was told to expect another increase. They stated that the homebuildt market is a pool of 10,000 registered A/C of which they insure 5000. Last year there loss ratio was 156%. My insurance is due in March and I will post the premium when I receive the bill. I have been flying since 1960 and owned my own plane for the last 16 yrs and never had a claim. My experience is very close to yours except no commercial rating. Lets hear from others on what they pay and who they insure with. John Harlow | ||
| Wayne Norris |
I have my aerobatic plane insured with Falcon, and they said they will cover my Express. They beat the other groups. Ask for Tom Canavera 512-891-8473, tell him Wayne sent you, if we stick together maybe we can get a better deal. www.falconinsurance.com | ||
| Phil & Margie Hodge (N410mp) |
I've got 2800 hrs TT, instrument, no commercial or complex, 10 hours in Expresses, no claims for the past 13 years of aircraft ownership. Hull value of $200k, annual premium $4118 with Avemco. I'll call Falcon when I renew in August. | ||
| Jim Butler |
I had less than 500 hours TT when I first insured my Express, and an instrument rating. About 100 of those hours was in high performance airplanes. I declared the value of the airplane at $221,000. My premium is around $5200 with Avemco. One trap you don't want to fall into is under-declaring your aircraft value. In the event of a loss, the insurance company can just write you a check for the declared value, and then sell off the aircraft. | ||
| F. Craig Albright (Craig) |
Thank you everyone for your responses. Holy buckets, insuring my Express is going to be expensive!! Looks like $4-5K/year if the group's experience is any indication. I could fly for over 1/2 year (~142 flight hours) on the annual insurance $$ "savings" associated with flying my Mooney -- yikes. As John Harlow mentioned, the claim rate for Experimentals appears exceptionally high. I wonder if we should eventually create an Express pilot proficiency program? Some insurance companies like that kind of thing and give discounts. From John's comment, it looks like all Experimentals are treated the same way regarding insurance -- probably because we're such a small population. That's be quite unfortunate since I think that the Express is "a cut above" when it comes to safety and reliability... Craig Albright Chandler (CHD), AZ PS -- I'll get some insurance estimates and post the results. | ||
| Jerry Sjostrand |
Fellow builders: This is Jerry Sjostrand again with some comments about "Insurance with Avemco, etc." This last week I received a check from Avemco for the repairs that were done to my Express for damages due to a "hard" landing the last of May this year. I learned the following: My insurance contract (and I assume the same for others insured with Avemco) specifically states that, for experimental aircraft, the owner can do his or her own repair work at the rate of $15 per hour. If you are like me, you would rather not have someone else repair your "baby" so the repair bill was at least $10K to $20K less that if it had been a certified aircraft being repaired. They will pay the going rate for outside repairs if you chose, but that might make the difference between a salvage or repairable aircraft. I did not realize the situation regarding the limit until the incident occurred. Two factors are in play here that can keep the cost of repairs down on an Express: The first is a big one in that the airplane (mine) took the impact with minimal damage as a result of the strong construction of the craft and a metal 3 bladed prop which acted as a big skid on 2 blades (upside down "Y") once the nose gear left the aircraft. Had my aircraft been of metal construction, I am quite sure it would have been a total loss as the firewall forward, undercarriage and lower empenage would have been wiped out. The other is the fact that when you repair the aircraft yourself, the repair costs will be much less and that, in many cases, would keep the aircraft from being written off. These may be some of the reasons that we still can insure our experimental aircraft. Another consideration to this situation is that you also must have the repairman's certificate for your Express in order to perform the repairs or have them (the repairs) signed off by a certified mechanic as with any aircraft. I replaced the prop, the nose gear parts, rebuilt the fairings, did other small repair jobs, had the engine disassembled per FAA regs and checked (no problem), and am now flying again. Cost to Avemco, just under $20K. Included in that was $4400 for my work at $15 per hour. The major cost of the insurance is hull coverage. Whereras Jim Butler is paying $5100/yr for $221K, I insured for $100K and pay $2800/yr. If you sold your Express in todays market you "might" get back your direct investment but not your labor (of love?). You will still have the benefit of repairing your Express if you so choose and at a cost to the insurance company that would be much less than "other" airplanes. Had mine been metal, it surely would have been written off. So, insure for your direct investment costs, thereby saving a bunch of money each year and expect, that if you do have an accident, you will do the repairs yourself or take the bucks and run. Paying high hull insurance on this aircraft is of course your choice, "but" you will pay for it. I had some apprehension about Avemco's willingness to work with me but they, through their adjusters in LA, handled the claim very well and I am satisfied with the results. Any questions or additional comments, please contact me direct or post to the forum. Happy New Year | ||
| John Harlow (Jharlow) |
Reporting back as promised. Well the bill has arrived from AVEMCO for next year and it has gone up from $2800 to $4380. That is for 100k of coverage. I plan to contact Falcon. John |