Insurance Based On Grass Strip

jnmeade

jnmeade

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Jim Meade
I'm toying with the idea of basing an airplane on a grass strip. What experience do you have with insurance charges, changes and so forth if based on a grass strip?

What kinds of questions does the insurance company want to know about the strip? E.g., must it be registered?
 
They usually only want to know if it's hangared. I've operated out of several grass strips , all public types and was not charged any extra. They were 23 to 2800 feet long.
 
Jimmy cooper said:
They usually only want to know if it's hangared. I've operated out of several grass strips , all public types and was not charged any extra. They were 23 to 2800 feet long.
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Man, you must have had quite the STOL bird to be based out of a 23' air strip. :D
 
Jimmy cooper said:
They usually only want to know if it's hangared. I've operated out of several grass strips , all public types and was not charged any extra. They were 23 to 2800 feet long.
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They usually want to know what airport is based at in addition to whether it is hangared or not.
 
Jimmy's humor is broken today.

Rental insurance often has limitations on runway composition. Owner insurance rarely does.

Easy answer: Ask your insurance broker. But even if (rare) they care, it won't add significantly to the price tag.
 
If the airplane is a retract, then you will have issues getting insurance if looking for coverage, it will either be a declination or we will do it for a lot of $$ other than that all my fixed gear airplanes on the grass runway I fly off of were not anymore than a paved airport runway. This is my experience on grass runways.
 
I have a retract, I've been based at two different grass airports. One was 2200' the other was 2600'. No problem. I think the added cost was maybe $30 on a $1000 premium as long as I had covered tie down. If in hangar, it was actually a little higher. I'm guessing there is some min length that they will qualify.
 
docmirror said:
I have a retract, I've been based at two different grass airports. One was 2200' the other was 2600'. No problem. I think the added cost was maybe $30 on a $1000 premium as long as I had covered tie down. If in hangar, it was actually a little higher. I'm guessing there is some min length that they will qualify.
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Insurance is, shall we say, interesting...we had a Hawker that the underwriter chose to decline one year because we were based at an airport with all runways shorter than 8700 feet.

Wanna know what orifice that number was pulled from? :eek:

Actually, that number IS in the AFM...but it's actually a maximum, not a minimum...and numerous adjustments apply from there.
 
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My insurance premium did not change when I moved the plane (Warrior) to a turf airport (hangared at both).
 
The only restriction my insurance has is no landing on "unimproved runways". To me that means some crazy out of the way backcountry strip, not a maintained grass strip. I use the grass strip at my home field more often than the paved runway.
 
JB1842 said:
The only restriction my insurance has is no landing on "unimproved runways". To me that means some crazy out of the way backcountry strip, not a maintained grass strip. I use the grass strip at my home field more often than the paved runway.
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I would find out what that means to your insurance company rather than relying on what it means to you...:yes:
 
I've never had it make a difference, hangar yes, what type of runway surface, no.


This was on a fixed gear taildragger and a RG amphib.
 
NIL...

My 182's been based at a dozen or more airports since I've owned it, at least three of them grass. The insurance has never been adjusted up or down. As others have said, the main question asked is, "will it be hangared?"
 
Alas it is indeed a problem with some companies on grass strips. My former insurer (USAIG) was willing if you could convince them that your home strip was up to snuff. Of course USAIG is otherwise screwed up and dropped me for no other reason than they thought there weren't enough Navions out there to figure out what to charge.

Avemco on the other hand doesn't give a hoot at all.
 
JB1842 said:
The only restriction my insurance has is no landing on "unimproved runways". To me that means some crazy out of the way backcountry strip, not a maintained grass strip. I use the grass strip at my home field more often than the paved runway.
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I would suggest getting that clarified a bit to see how accurate your interpretation is. There are lots of people who land at farm strips or in hay fields that are far from your "crazy out of the way backcountry strip" yet could possibly be considered unimproved by the insurance company.

With regard to the original question, my insurance company asks what type of surface is at my home base as well as if it is hangared. I've never had them quote it both ways to see what the premium difference is, but I assume that there must be some difference or else they wouldn't ask.
 
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