Hi,
Many thanks Alan and all those who replied to my query. Please keep them
coming in.
I think I will probably insure fully comp for the first year at least
then depending on how lucky/ skilled I feel I might go third party from
then on.
I may be wrong but I cant see how any but the worst (and then possibly
fatal) accident can cost that much to fix in terms of replacement parts
and materials. At the end of the day I would have to provide the labour
so in cost terms this dosen't count. For example a complete wing kit
would cost about 5000 so a wing or part of wing (foam cores) would be
much less. Most fuselage parts would come to much less. A second hand
Rotax would cost 3000 (if the original could not be repaired).
---From what I know of Europa accidents, by far the most common are prop
strikes but with an excess of 500 the insurer is often left paying
very little (unless it is an expensive VP prop).
It is inevitable that accidents will happen especially to rookie pilots
like me but with experience these will diminish. What I would like to
know is if aviation insurance reflects the experience, hours and claims
record of individual pilots. If it does then staying fully comp makes
sense but if not then i'm not so sure.
Maybe my answer will be different in a years time.
Again, thanks for the advice.
Carl Pattinson
PS - Sorry to dissapoint, but having been building for over 5 years, my
definition of "it will be flying soon" is in 3-6 months, so sadly not in
time for "the summer". But we did fly down to the Isle of Wight in a
friends Jodel today and next year it WILL be in the Europa !!!!
----- Original Message -----
From: Alan Stewart
Subject: RE: Insurance
Hello Carl,
I have a 500 excess on my insurance and I think I pay around
1200/year for 35 - 40K worth of cover.
I get debited 10 times a year for the amount.
I think it might be Westminster Insurance, I can get you more details
if you're interested.
They seem quite good.
There are a few fixed hours schemes, but the cost mount if you do more
than a set number.
I would have thought you'd be hard pressed to get comp. cover for much
less.
Is Comp worth it ?. Well I've had more than my moneys worth from them
over the years !!
Say for example, you ground loop the plane and hit a parked aircraft
(I haven't, before you ask).
You might end up with a bill for many thousands of pounds.
When the undercarriage on FX collapsed during test flying, I think the
bill was around 5000.
In the past, I've been with Pentagon, but Westminster seem more
competitive now.
Alan
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-europa@post.aviators.net
Subject: Insurance
We are getting fairly close to completing our Europa and are having
to consider little incidentals like insurance.
Does anyone in the UK have any words of wisdom/ reccommendations on
the subject. We initially thought we would try to insure it for a couple
of months to get it through permit and test flying then maybe take a
break over the winter and start over next year. I know some owners make
considerable savings by flying only 6-8 months of the year.
Also we would like an idea of what the likely cost would be. It
seems that the excess on most claims has risen considerably and I
believe that 500 is not uncommon (ie- the cost of a dinged prop
blade). It does beg the question as to whether fully comp insurance is
really worthwhile considering the likelyhood that you would end up
repairing any damage that you caused in an accident.
Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated. Also any
reccomendations of good insurers.
Carl Pattinson
G-LABS (nearly finished - Yippee !)
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