Insurance coming down?

Jim K

Jim K

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After several years of hikes, my aircraft insurance was down about $500 this year. That's more than 10%. I have a confounding factor though that i crossed 1000 hours last year. Is the market softening, or is it just the tt milestone?
 
That would be nice I also recently crossed the 1000 hour line and added a CPL. I'm a few months out from my renewal though, ask me again around the end of Dec/early Jan.
 
The asinine dual before solo requirements I've been seeing are softening for certain. I'm starting to see "no checkout required" again for bonanzas and barons. It's been a few years.
 
I had a conversation with an agent yesterday concerning insurance in a piston PA-46. 602hrs total, 228hrs in a T210, BasicMed. He said not a problem. Would likely be just under 2% hull value then drop a bit after a year…assuming I flew it at least 100hr. He said that there are more underwriters in the game for higher risk aircraft/pilots and prices are coming to a lower end of a cycle. I will likely be able to get a similar rate for the PA-46 in the first year as I got this past December on the 210.
 
Our RV insurance went down this year. It is getting older? I have had insurance on it since 2002 and I thought that is why it came down??
And our car insurance came down $62 also for 2 cars.
But my aircraft insurance stayed the same as I just paid it yesterday.
 
Rates and the reasoning for them are all over the place. On my 310 and my 421, the rates both went down a good bit but the open pilot policy is pretty restrictive for them now.

Here is where things get really wierd in the insurance world - I rent out a 172 and a 172RG and the combined premium is just shy of $13K (which is more than my 310 and 421 combined.) The open pilot for the 172 is pretty much anybody who can breath and is under 78 years of age.

The RG is a different story - They want 500 hours TT, 100 hours retract and 25 in type OR you can be a CFI or under the instruction of a CFI.

In my case, I wanted to add my son as named insured to the RG policy so he could fly the plane. He has 300+TT with around 130 multi PIC flying the 310 and the 421. The insurance company held fast at the 500 hour total time until I brought up the point that the current policy allowed for a 251 hour CFI with ZERO RG experience to be covered.
 
k9medic said:
Rates and the reasoning for them are all over the place. On my 310 and my 421, the rates both went down a good bit but the open pilot policy is pretty restrictive for them now.

Here is where things get really wierd in the insurance world - I rent out a 172 and a 172RG and the combined premium is just shy of $13K (which is more than my 310 and 421 combined.) The open pilot for the 172 is pretty much anybody who can breath and is under 78 years of age.

The RG is a different story - They want 500 hours TT, 100 hours retract and 25 in type OR you can be a CFI or under the instruction of a CFI.

In my case, I wanted to add my son as named insured to the RG policy so he could fly the plane. He has 300+TT with around 130 multi PIC flying the 310 and the 421. The insurance company held fast at the 500 hour total time until I brought up the point that the current policy allowed for a 251 hour CFI with ZERO RG experience to be covered.
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They need to stop using AI for quoting and go back to actual human underwriters!
 
At some point, it’s easier to get the CFI ticket than the insurance qualifications.

This thread will be the death of me. It looks like I picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue, and trolling the 421 for-sale listings.
 
I just got a warning from my insurance company (required by our insurance commisioner) that pilot requirements would be increasing on my policy. I haven't heard the specifics from my agent yet, but hopefully it's something I've already achieved in the last year. If not, I may have to fly the heck out of it before renewal. :)
 
iamtheari said:
At some point, it’s easier to get the CFI ticket than the insurance qualifications.
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It's amazing what a newly minted CFI can be authorized to fly without a clue. Whereas well seasoned pilots need to have 5, 10, or even 25 hour checkouts with said wet-behind-the-ears CFI to be allowed to solo.
 
I received my policy options yesterday. The currrent carrier initially added about 20% to my premium over last year, but an equivalent carrier came in at <essentially> my current rate, with slightly better deductibles. The existing carrier elected to match that rate (but not the deductibles). So I'm not seeing a reduction despite adding 100 or so hours to my logbook this year...
 
kyleb said:
I received my policy options yesterday. The currrent carrier initially added about 20% to my premium over last year, but an equivalent carrier came in at <essentially> my current rate, with slightly better deductibles. The existing carrier elected to match that rate (but not the deductibles). So I'm not seeing a reduction despite adding 100 or so hours to my logbook this year...
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That sucks. Really surprises me.
 
shouldn't be surprising. taildragger vs trike vs retract etc, the discount gradient as a function of time in type aren't fixed across these categories. Don't blame the messenger.
 
hindsight2020 said:
shouldn't be surprising. taildragger vs trike vs retract etc, the discount gradient as a function of time in type aren't fixed across these categories. Don't blame the messenger.
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I had a significant drop from 13K to 9K in premiums for a T210N after one year and over 125hrs in the M/M. Just got a quote on a Malibu at 200K more hull value that was around 10K with 0 time M/M. The two agents I spoke to said premiums and requirements are less than last year in general.
 
Our c172 policy renews in November…. It’s held constant last 2 years and will be happy if it just doesn’t go up by more than 5%. It’s in experimental category but cost has been same as standard c172 so far….. but a few exp owners said their cost increased last 3 years. I have not heard anyone’s premium lowering but maybe due to less ga flying so less losses.
 
bbchien said:
Time in type remains a salient "risk reduction" factor.
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I was asked to do a contract flight in a 414A a while back. I had flown a 414A for about an hour several years ago but other than that, had no recent experience. Since I am sim current on the 421C and have hundreds of hours in, the plane owner contact the insurance company if I could get a waiver. The insurance company said all I would need was an IPC in the 414A and I would be good to go.

Two weeks later, I meet the CFI who is conducting the IPC. He had 5 hours in a 414A himself and it was all in the right seat.
 
Rcmutz said:
They need to stop using AI for quoting and go back to actual human underwriters!
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Most companies are using humans to underwrite. The use of AI to underwrite in aviation insurance is grossly overstated. It's a marketing ploy.
 
This is five months old. Given that the hull value and sublimits are increased in 2026, I would say this represents a small decrease in the actual premium. RV-8A.

2025 April: $1MM/$100k, $125,000 hull at $1,275

2026 April: $1MM/$200k, $150,000 hull at $1,345
 
Mine is coming way down. I'm very happy. Me and my flying partner both passed the 100 hours in make and model (Seneca). That must be the magic. Rate is dropping 40%.
 
KLRDMD said:
This is five months old. Given that the hull value and sublimits are increased in 2026, I would say this represents a small decrease in the actual premium. RV-8A.

2025 April: $1MM/$100k, $125,000 hull at $1,275

2026 April: $1MM/$200k, $150,000 hull at $1,345
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0.8% of agreed hull is very competitive. Last time I quoted for a 6A (back in 2024, so it's very dated) with zero tIme-iN-type (granted way lower hull value; perhaps there's an organic discount the higher one goes on the hull scale) they wanted 2.1%. Congrats.
 
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My renewal went up about 10%, but I hit 70 y.o. and expected an increase.

I've used AOPA's partner (AssuredPartners AeroSpace) for years, but this year ForeFlight entered the insurance brokerage business. It's built into their app and they sent emails. I was curious and used their system for a competitive quote. Because FF has all my aircraft and pilot data, the application was pre-filled with current data. All I had to do was confirm and click "submit". FF gets a gold star for making it quick and easy. I had two quotes within 24 hours and two more in another day. One quote was about 5% less than what Assured quoted from AIG, but I've never heard of the company. Oddly enough this low-bidder updated their quote a few hours later and increased the premium by about 20%. Another quote was about 50% higher than AIG but included this interesting requirement: "All pilots, whether named or otherwise covered under this policy, must successfully complete formal, annual ground and flight recurrent training in the make and model insured administered by a training facility agreed upon by the Company."
 
That reads like robo-quotes language for turbine 91 type operation. Probably an AI generated product. The encrapification of our lives will continue. Probably dynamic priced too, judging by the quote changing less than 48 hours lol.
 
My insurance quotes have been pretty static over the last decade. Maybe $20 increase each year unless I bumped the hull value. I didn't notice any extra bump when I hit 70, but I do maintain IFR currency, maybe that helps. Or not.
 
chemgeek said:
My insurance quotes have been pretty static over the last decade. Maybe $20 increase each year unless I bumped the hull value. I didn't notice any extra bump when I hit 70, but I do maintain IFR currency, maybe that helps. Or not.
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Similar to my story. IFR currency would only figure if the insurance stipulates an annual or bi-annual IPC as I understand it. I had that stipulation one year when transitioned to a much higher performance ship; then it went away and my rates went down 60% the next year (piston twin initial ownership).
 
Our Skylane club with an open pilot commercial policy is ~10k with 375k on the hull. Flies ~300hrs a year. Hoping after a year we can put everyone as named pilots with IR and get it down to ~3k, probably wishful thinking..
 
i just renewed the harvard today, it came down a thousand dollars this year. however, i have crossed the 80hrs in type line and i think that has a bit to do with it.
 
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