Flight Experience in Type Required for Insurance

wilkersk

wilkersk

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KennyW
I have two friends, brothers, who each have an RV. One's an RV-7A, the other and RV-8A. They told me their insurer required 60 hours in type before they could get hull coverage. And they both went through Van's recognized transition training. Is this normal? I just called Avemco, who I've been insured with for more than 5 years on my Sonerai. They said they only needed 10 hours in type before they'd cover in the -8 I'm building.

What are you guys seeing for flight experience requirements?
 
Common. I needed 3 hrs dual (prior to hull coverage/liability) then 15hrs solo before passengers would be covered in make/model in a T210. The 182 I flew prior had 5hrs dual requirement but I was still a student pilot with 0 hours in make/model.
 
My insurer wanted either 5 or 10 in type before they'd cover me (and the others on the policy). I don't remember for sure which it was.
 
It’s common to have a transition training and total hour requirement (5-10 seems common in the RV world) but 60 is ridiculous. Also Avemco insurance tends to be the most expensive out there. Way better premiums are to be had by going through brokers that cater to the E-AB community like Falcon or Gallagher, to name a couple.
 
My -9A coverage from Old Republic required only a checkout from a CFI, no minimum hour requirement (I did a little over 5). Global also quoted my renewal (a little cheaper) and their requirement for a named insured is either 5 hours in type or a CFI checkout. Open pilot clause for both is 500 hours total time and 25 hour in type.
 
tsts4 said:
It’s common to have a transition training and total hour requirement (5-10 seems common in the RV world) but 60 is ridiculous. Also Avemco insurance tends to be the most expensive out there. Way better premiums are to be had by going through brokers that cater to the E-AB community like Falcon or Gallagher, to name a couple.
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This. Also, through a full service broker, you can shop pilot requirements between underwriters, not just price.

As I recall, for the RV-10 I needed a couple of hours of transition training with an instructor who had 10 or 20 hours of RV-10 time.
 
Often they will negotiate. When I bought my Hatz they (I was dealing with Falcon) wanted 5 or 10 hours dual with a CFI that had Hatz time. When I pointed out the near impossibility of finding such a CFI, I got them down to a one hour checkout with the non CFI seller. But I had lots of tailwheel and biplane time by then.

When I bought the Parrakeet last year I only found two who would cover it, Avemco (more expensive, of course) IIRC wanted 5 hours in type (it's a single seater) before coverage which meant I'd be flying naked for the first 5 hours, but then Northwest came through with a better price and only the requirement that the first hour be flown in the traffic pattern.

But these are much less expensive airplanes than RVs.
 
Dana said:
Often they will negotiate.
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:yeahthat:
First time I flew one make/model outside of an FBO environment, the insurance company wanted me to fly 10 hours in type with a CFI with >10 hours in type. Some time later, someone who had just bought the same make/model heard that I had been flying it a while asked me to be a "familiarization pilot" for 5 hours even though I was only PP, same insurance company.
 
time in type with a CFI is standard, but 60hrs is out of line. my insurance company only required a 10hr checkout with a approved cfi for coverage on the T-6
 
When I bought our RV-8A, insurance only required a checkout from a CFI who had 25 hours in the same make and model. They didn’t set any requirements for what the checkout covered. They were fine with me getting the checkout in the right seat of a -6A.
 
In 2019, my insurance agent got me two quotes for the RV-14 (taildragger). Both required 3 hours of dual from an instructor with 25 hours in type. At the time, I had 471 hours total time and 107 hours tailwheel. I believe the same requirements were in place by the time I started flying it in 2021.
 
Avemco wouldn’t insure my exp Cub without 100 hours in type, which I had. That after 20 years of them insuring my 180. All I know is you never know until you ask.
 
If they are sticking with 60 hrs, they could go liability only for the first year or two.

I’d take the 60 hr quote as a sign that the company isn’t interested but doesn’t want to alienate them with an outright refusal, just in case they buy another aircraft at some point.
 
Pretty sure when we were getting ready to fly the -7A, all we had to do was go down to Jeff City, MO to get a checkout from a CFI there. I did a typical 'checkout' type flight with a guy in his -6A. IIRC, he was one of only a few that could do that at that time (2004ish). I was probably at a whopping 2-300 hours TT at that point with High Perf and Retract endorsements. I don't remember requirements for the -10 in 2010 or so, but we didn't do any checkout for it. Dad and I already had quite a bucket of hours in both -7A and High Perf, so maybe that checked the boxes at the time.
 
Shop other insurance companies, the old trick was not giving them a N number, that is what I do but I am not sure how much it helps.

I had one broker who pushed for me to not add my significant other as named insured, but instead have her fly under the open pilot policy, I am not a insurance salesman or adjuster but even as a dumb pilot I know what subrogation is.

Not all salesmen are equal in quality, if they say something out of line just say “that sounds out of line” and give them a minute to “ask the manager” or “look something up” if it’s still not right, thank them for their time and call the next one.

Time in type and checkouts are most often negotiable, especially when overly specific to the instructors experience, and when the time is excessive.

I have had good luck with BWI

BWI

For over 40 years, BWI Aviation Insurance is proud to be the nation's leader in aircraft insurance. Our company offers the lowest rates and best experience in airplane insurance, from large commercial planes to small private aircraft. Give us a call today! (800) 666-4359
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Jenny was very knowledgeable, even looked up good hull value recommendations for me, and the rate she quoted was the lowest
(no affiliation)
 
Avemco wanted 10 hours of dual for my Bonanza transition. Probably could have been safe at 6, but I don’t mind extra training


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Don't know about EAB, but it seems pretty random to me. They wanted 10 dual on mu Comanche (I had 0 RG so it made sense), 1 hour on My Grumman (in the exact plane, so a checkout - fine), but nothing at all on my Seneca (despite only 40 ME). I'd certainly shop it around.
 
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