How does Experimental Insurance Work?

[CharlieWaffles]

So I'm not where near flying, but I'm thinking about insurance when I am. I'm wondering, if there is damage to an item (wing hits a pole for instance), how does the insurance work? With a production plan, you could take it to a repair shop and they would do the work and charge you parts and labor. With an RV I built myself, is the insurance just going to pay (if covered) me the cost of the raw parts from Vans and I'm on the hook for the time to repair or out of pocket to pay someone else to fix (if that is even possible). Just wondering how this scenario plays out in non-production land.

[Mel]

Insurance will pay to have the aircraft repaired by someone else or they will pay you $X/hour for your labor plus the cost of materials.

[flion]

I folded a nose gear with a hard landing. I submitted all the parts invoices from Van's plus the invoices from the prop shop and the A&P who did my engine. I also claimed 100 hours of my time, which was approved. The adjuster mentioned $25 an hour, which was way more than I expected. Not only that, but I get paid to have the enjoyment of rebuilding my project.

[N941WR]

Exactly what Mel and Patrick said. When I had my taxi incident I had to submit a parts estimate to the insurance company along with an estimate of how long I thought the repairs would take.

They said I could have it all taken care of or I could do it myself. I elected to fix it myself as there were some other things I wanted to do at the same time. I just billed them for the time I worked on the repairs, not the time I spent doing other things.

The parts quote was easy as Van's can give you the cost of every part. The insurance guy said 200 hours, I said 400 hundred, and it came in right at 396 hours, including the five hour phase 1 flight hours, which were required.

You need to be careful not to go over 70% of the insured value or they will total it.

[DocThrock]

Slightly off topic, but I thought I'd throw this in:

If the insurance company DOES total it, you get insured hull value You can then offer to buy it back at salvage value. The only trouble you might have with that scenario is if the company requires three bidders and the process is done through an adjuster. Wentworth (or some other salvage outfit) might out bid you.

I bought my "totaled" Rocket back. I made an offer through the claims adjuster that was roughly the same as the highest other bidder. I told them they would have to immediately remove the plane from my hangar if I lost the bid. The cost to the insurance company or the high bidder to move and store the aircraft until such time as they want to truck the thing home can be substantial. That is a strong bargaining point.

So I got my plane back, it was all handled internally without salvage paperwork. I was able to make repairs to my plane and I'm now back in the air.

And my insurance rate went DOWN.

[N941WR]

Originally Posted by DocThrock

...And my insurance rate went DOWN.

How did that work? Mine went up $400/yr and that was with the first line on the report saying "an improperly parked trailer was struck by N941WR." I thought for sure I was going to get off without an increase. Still, $400/yr for a new O-360 isn't too bad.

[JDRhodes]

The nice thing about dealing with an airplane insurance claim is that, for the most part, you are dealing with a real person. Tell them what you want to do and as long as it's reasonable for the company, they can make it work.

With a hull claim - damage to your aircraft only - their objective really is to write a check and be done with you. Man hours=money, so let them know what you want, provide the paperwork they need and go to fixing your airplane.