Prop Strike-Insc Question

Have a friend working with an Insurance Co. trying to get his RV repaired after a prop strike. It looks like they want him to pay a percent of the prop value, 400 hrs on the RV. Have not personally heard of this before, Is this normal?

Many years ago I was a partner in a 182, with a CS prop with a TBO of 2000 hrs. Partner had a prop strike at 1200 hrs (60% of 2000 hrs). Overhaul cost at TBO was $2000. New prop was $7000.(list price). Insurance offered $7000, minus 60% of $2000 (the overhaul cost we had "used up"), or $7000 - $1200 = $5800, as the current value of the prop.
I thought it was fair, especially since they used list prices and just gave us cash. We negotiated with the prop shop, they kept the old one and sold us a new one for $6K.

I wouldn't be surprised they would want a pro-rate on the prop life, but what is the expected prop life for the pro-rate? Now there's the question....

Are they paying for the engine teardown as well? Your friend will likely end up paying for any SB or AD related expenses not associated with the prop strike teardown, but the insurance company should cover disassembly, inspection, replacement of any strike-induced failures, and reassembly.

When I last looked at ?my insurance policy? there was no obvious mention of a deductible or proration of claims requirement (AIG insurance through AOPA). If there is some type of prorating involved it should be identified in the policy. I agree any AD or SB related expense not related to the prop strike are his in total.

The builder of my RV7A experienced a prop strike landing at AirVenture in 2014. It required a complete engine tear down, inspection and reassembly similar to a major overhaul plus a new Hartzell propeller. The aircraft had approximately 150 hours on it at the time of the incident. Total costs exceeded 20K for the engine alone and was done by a major engine shop that I?ve talked to several times at an AirVenture booth. The new C/S Hartzell prop was around $7,500. To my knowledge his insurance company covered all expenses.

I purchased the aircraft in April 2015 with around 20 hours since the prop strike. I believe his age (81) was a contributing factor and I?m guessing the insurance company encouraged him to sell the plane by placing some restrictions on him or policy cost increases for renewal (just guessing here because I did purchase it at a very fair price).

Depends on the insurance policy, of course, but just re-checked mine and there is absolutely no mention of any such "pro-rating" of any payments for damage.

What does the policy on the aircraft in question say?

Value added

I have a friend that has had a few claims and the insurance company argued that a mid time motor overhauled added value to his plane. They fought it out and compromised but did not pay for all of the value added.

MConner said:

I have a friend that has had a few claims and the insurance company argued that a mid time motor overhauled added value to his plane. They fought it out and compromised but did not pay for all of the value added.

Click to expand...

I'm not a plane owner, so take this with a grain of salt. I thought the insurance company only pays for the teardown and replacement of parts that were damaged as a result of the prop strike? So, it would not be an overhaul and very little or no value would be added. You could elect to pay to update parts while the engine is apart to turn it into an overhaul which would add value but that cost is on the owner. So if the engine is torn down with 2400hrs on it, and nothing wrong is found, it will be re-assembled and you still have a 2400hr engine and no value added to the plane.

Josh