XOverZero

XOverZero

Well Known Member
I'd like to solicit some feedback from members who have purchased insurance to cover their aircraft during construction.

Which company?
What $$ coverage range?
Premium cost (maybe on a per-dollar-of-coverage-value basis)?
Did coverage value (and premium cost) increase as additional sub-kits were acquired?
Quality of customer service? <<Warning...subjective...:D>>
Any recommendations and/or caveats?

Many thanks in advance!
 
NationAir

I had insurance on the kit (was required to get a hangar). I was quoted about $500 a year. $30,000 coverage if I remember correctly. I didn't renew after the first year.

Moving the kit home, homeowners insurance may cover it.
 
I'd like to know also

I tried to get insurance for my kit also and what I found shocked me.
I tried my home owner?s insurance company first and my agent told me that it will NOT be covered.
Then I tried my current aircraft insurance company and they will insure it but the cost to insure a bunch of parts that are not flying is as much as I pay to insure my flying airplane that has full coverage on it. All I told them I want is the parts to be covered in case of a catastrophic accident like a fire or tornado. I just want parts of the kit replaced so I can rebuild it.
No luck so far. Self insured so far:(
 
STATE FARM told me anything with an engine is not covered under the home owners policy. I tried to argue that there is no engine yet, that did not work.
 
I just received a quote for builder insurance thru EAA from Falcon Ins agency, $450 for 70k. Most of the aircraft is still in my attached garage. I am still considering if I really need it or not.
 
DonFromTX said:
I just received a quote for builder insurance thru EAA from Falcon Ins agency, $450 for 70k. Most of the aircraft is still in my attached garage. I am still considering if I really need it or not.
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My builder's inurance was through Chartis through a local agent here in Ohio. Pretty typical coverage. I needed 1M of liability to cover the city and hangar. Over the course of the build, I increased the hull coverage annually based upon what I was expecting to buy that year. This cost is what is going to drive the price variations amongst builders.

The other thing to consider is that I didn't purchase insurance until I bought the fuselage kit. It was at that point, it didn't make sense in my situation to self insure. (and I was still building in the garage)

bob
 
Another question I have not yet found the answer to, does that insurance cover just the cost of replacement kits, or the hundreds of hours of labor as well. If just kits, then the amount you insure for should be far lower than the value of the nearly complete aircraft.
I am leaning towards no insurance, since it is in my very secure home, not much chance of loss really.
 
DonFromTX said:
Another question I have not yet found the answer to, does that insurance cover just the cost of replacement kits, or the hundreds of hours of labor as well. If just kits, then the amount you insure for should be far lower than the value of the nearly complete aircraft.
I am leaning towards no insurance, since it is in my very secure home, not much chance of loss really.
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It can cover labor, but you have to determine the value and ensure that you have appropriate coverage. Obviously the cost is going to me more. You also have the same issue when you purchase in-motion. You should insure replacement cost which would include labor, freight, plus all that hardware your purchased.

I'm going through that debate with myself at the moment. Do I want to under insure by removing the labor part to get a price reduction in premium price. The question is that a reasonable risk to take.

bob
 
I bought mine through NationAir and generally kept it to around $600. But, to be clear, that's not enough to get you invited to their margarita party at Oshkosh, apparently. :p
 
my project is insured through NationAir

Call Jenny. She is the RV specialist. My project was not insured until I bought the engine and prop. At that point I had about $60k invested and my first years insurance was about $650/yr. I am now adding avionics and an EFIS. I just renewed Friday and increased from $60k to $80k and it dropped to $550/yr. Also through Chartis. Jenny said they will cover 1st flight, etc and first year flying will be in the $1400 range and then should drop from there. Highly recommend calling Jenny for a quote.

1-877-648-VANS (8267)(just copied off of my paid invoice) :)
 
I didn't insure my project until I moved it from my garage to the airport. I figured the risk in my garage was dang small.
As others have said, most homeowners' policies won't cover anything that is "in assembly" in your house or garage, be it an airplane or a kit-built car.
I ended up with insurance from Chartair; the premium for hull insurance, including on the road on the way to the airport ... was 1% of the insured value.
 
Down Under mine is with QBE Aviation. Premium is 1% of insured value so $400 for $40K.

I too tried the argument that until it is registered, it cannot be deemed an aircraft, just a bunch of expensive metal parts, but our home insurer wouldn't have a bar of it.

My take on it is unless you can get it in writing from your home insurer (very unlikely) it is better to have the kit insured with a specialised aviation firm than not. Particularly if you aren't in the US and shipping charges cost an arm and a leg.
 
I have had my project insured through the EAA (Falcon Insurance) for several years now. For the first 5 years it cost me 1.0% per year... as a hypothetical example, a $50,000 insured value would equal a $500 premium. Just last week I got a renewal notice along with a message that my rate had been reduced from 1.0% to 0.6% per year because my project has been "accident-free for 5 or more years". :rolleyes: So now the same $50,000 example costs me only $300 a year, as long as I keep driving carefully when I'm sitting in the cockpit making airplane noises. :)

mcb
 
RVRC said:
Call Jenny. She is the RV specialist. My project was not insured until I bought the engine and prop. At that point I had about $60k invested and my first years insurance was about $650/yr. I am now adding avionics and an EFIS. I just renewed Friday and increased from $60k to $80k and it dropped to $550/yr. Also through Chartis. Jenny said they will cover 1st flight, etc and first year flying will be in the $1400 range and then should drop from there. Highly recommend calling Jenny for a quote.

1-877-648-VANS (8267)(just copied off of my paid invoice) :)
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I assume you have a LOT of hours. Mine was $1900 via NationAir this year for only 60k of coverage; I can't afford any more.
 
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