Insurance shock.

I just got a call from my insurance lady. She's great. Every year she shops around for the best price but this year prices have gone through the roof. Liability only was $452 last year. That was up around $100 from the year before. This year her cheapest quote so far is $975. Some other quotes were in the $1500 range. She said she asked why the prices were so high. She was told these type planes are now considered high risk. My airport requires coverage. If not I'd think about dropping it all together. I'm sure we all have a pretty good idea why these rates are going up. Are y'all seeing these ate increases?

Update: My insurance girl called me back today. She said she called my current provider and asked why they were nearly doubling my rates. She said they couldn't really give a logical reason and agreed to provide my same coverage for $585. Not great but still much better than their 1st quote.

The insurance market is driven by what the market will bear. As long as consumers are willing to pay that price, that is where the price point will be set. Your age is also a factor in setting the rate. As you get older the risk of insuring you increases, and the price increases accordingly. Obviously the type of plane you fly and your experience in that model is taken into consideration also. I’m not an insurance guy, but that is how it was explained to me, by an insurance guy acquaintance.

I'm still waiting for someone to provide actuarial evidence that age is a factor. The sharpest pilots I know are in their 80s.

Based on quotes, the sky should be raining old geezers. It's not.

One of the issues with insurance is that there are fewer carriers now. Some will just not quote specific types of aircraft, which reduces the carrier pool. Insurance is driven by perception. We have coverage for our King Air 300 and this year there were only 3 carriers that quoted, of 6. There used to be 12 carriers. Since 2017 our insurance has tripled. This year it went up 11%. As for age of pilots, it is a perception issue. We have a 75 yr old, retired NWA 747 driver with 35,000 hours, 20+ type ratings. Sharp as a tack, great physical health, but the insurance would not give him a letter of subrogation. Which means that he can be sued if something happens while his is pilot. Last year no problem. I get the same mumbo-jumbo about losses and stuff, but in reality, statistically it hasn't been worse than other years. They just can. So they do.

Thanks to all for your input. I completed my model 4 in late 2015. I was under the impression that as I got more time under my belt that my rates would come down. Instead my rates have steadily increased. The last 2 years the rate increase has been around the 25% range. I've never made a claim so that's not it. I agree with the statement "they can so they do." I guess I had better get used to it. Everything's going up. At this rate the cost of insurance will become prohibitive at some point.

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Originally Posted by jrthomas

At this rate the cost of insurance will become prohibitive at some point.

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That’s the point the insurance underwriters are looking for. If they can find that sweet spot and stay just below it, their shareholders rejoice!

Just got my insurance renewal notice. I went through Falcon Insurance Agency. Last year I paid $1,277. This year they want $1,478, $201 more. In this year I added another 55 hours of flight and tailwheel time & made no claims. I only have $50K hull and 1mil liability. I still think my rate is not that bad but still, a 13% increase seems a little much.

We just got a quote for a Savannah S, with 3 pilots, one of which is 77. With a way underrated hull, they want $9850 / yr. Many of my customers at our FBO saw their rates DOUBLE from last year, and several had to move their planes as our runway is the shortest public use runway in Va. at 2000'. The Mooney's and Bonanza's got hit the hardest.