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#11
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On Nov 4, 8:59*am, Darryl Ramm wrote:
On Nov 4, 8:27*am, 5Z wrote: On Nov 4, 7:00*am, Gregg Ballou wrote: On trailer insurance my open trailer is insured through Geico for chump change per year. *Told them what it was and what it was for. * Don't know how much they would charge for a new Cobra but calling your car insurance company might help with the cost of trailer insurance. This only works if the auto insurer will cover it for REPLACEMENT value. *A brand new Cobra trailer will run around $15K. *If the insurance company decides to depreciate it at the same rate as a car, you're going to wish you did pay that $100/yr to bundle it in with the sailplane. -Tom Disclaimer: *All numbers above are "off the cuff", so may be out of date. My single axle 18m Cobra trailer cost ~$17k (at today's exchange rate) two years ago, plus you have to pay to deliver it from the factory to the port, shipping to the USA, insurance en-route, pickup from the port of you are paying somebody to do that, etc. So add another few $k for all that. And I assume Cobra prices have gone up a little since the. Is there a lot of tow-out/rigging gear? maybe another $k for that? Lets call it low $20k for replacement cost. I'm guessing a 15m Cobra trailer well optioned, delivered etc. will be ~$18k? Darryl mmm another thought, I assume the aviation insurers will pick up any state sales tax. I believe it's a state by state thing as to how exactly this is handled (it is for cars). Something to ask next time I renew, and that Costello invoice is lurking in my in-box. Ditto, with Tom, I always thought the trailer insurance with the glider through Costello was a pretty good deal. Darryl |
#12
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Getting back to the original questions:
I've used both Costello (for my Russia AC-4) and Avemco (for my DG-300). I'm a 100-hour glider pilot with an SEL rating (about 200 hours TT). Costello was decent for my Russia, but they require full payment in advance and came across as very limited in terms of options or flexibility. Costello also now balks at "winter storage" or "non- flying status". I tried to work that out with them when I bought my DG-300, and was told that I could not switch over to this kind of coverage for any shorter than a 1-year term. :-/ Avemco has been a bit more pleasant to work with, IMHO. They were more flexible (multiple payment and coverage options), and provided a slightly lower quote than Costello for my DG-300. They provided a pleasant surprise, too: there was a SNAFU with my paperwork (USPS), and when it finally went through I'd racked up a few more hours of glider-time - pushing me across the "150-hours TT" threshold. They called to confirm everything, and when they found out about my added time, they applied it to my account and lowered my premium. It wasn't a big change, but it was a nice surprise! There is a caveat with Avemco, though: They are primarily focused on powered airplanes, and their policy is not to insure any aircraft that they don't have on their master list - so they can't provide coverage for some of the lesser-known models of glider (like my AC-4). However they do seem savvy about the major brands and models, and they seemed to understand the insurance needs of a glider pilot (trailer, towing, etc) just fine. I have never had to file a claim with either company so I can't comment on that side of things; but I know of a Discus owner and another DG owner who also have Avemco and are pleased with their coverage and service. I think the bottom-line is that you should always shop around and then decide for yourself which company provides the best _combination_ of coverage, service, and price. Good luck, --Noel |
#13
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I had Costello for a few years and switched to L.L.Johns & Associates
when I upgraded to a different ship. L.L.Johns is easier to work with and about $150 cheaper. L.L.J. assumes a winter layup in their quote and doesn't make you pick dates for layup and back-to-flying like Costello does. At Costello, if you change your layup date, it costs you $75. The Costello date-picking also makes you maximize the down time to minimize the policy cost. The folks at Costello are certainly very nice friendly people, I just prefer the flexibility of L.L.Johns. Both use AIG to underwrite the policy, I called and asked last month due to the news. |
#14
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Having shopped around for insurance and held policies with several
different insurers, for several different aircraft, I have found that Costello is currently the best in terms of price, coverage, and flexability. I've had Avemco and Pik West but Costello saved me the most. I also had no trouble placing it in "winter storage" for four months. With Costello, you have to state the exact dates you want to have the glider in non operative flight status. They then send you a refund on your premium. If you wish to fly your plane sooner than when you anticipated, it's $50.00 to re-instate your policy and you have to pay your regular premium for the dates of coverage. As you have more years of claims free experience with them, the rates drop to a maximun of 25%. If I remember correctly, the number of flights and/or hours you have in 35:1 has quite an impact on your premium. The ASW-15 is probably considered around that performance. Also if you hit 70+ yrs of age, you take a hit on the premium. Personally, I found it was worth having the trailer on the policy. I'm not an insurance guy but just a regular consumer who has shopped around for a few decades. Barry |
#15
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Note: I tried to get coverage from LL John's and they seemed to be
very friendly, but they can only provide coverage in certain states. Sadly, my state is not one of them. :-P As you can see from the various posts, there's no substitute to calling around and finding the insurer that works best for your particular situation. Good luck! --Noel |
#16
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On Nov 4, 12:38*pm, drbdanieli wrote:
Having shopped around for insurance and held policies with several different insurers, for several different aircraft, I have found that Costello is currently the best in terms of price, coverage, and flexability. *I've had Avemco and Pik West but Costello saved me the most. *I also had no trouble placing it in "winter storage" for four months. *With Costello, you have to state the exact dates you want to have the glider in non operative flight status. *They then send you a refund on your premium. If you wish to fly your plane sooner than when you anticipated, it's $50.00 to re-instate your policy and you have to pay your regular premium for the dates of coverage. As you have more years of claims free experience with them, the rates drop to a maximun of 25%. If I remember correctly, the number of flights and/or hours you have in 35:1 has quite an impact on your premium. *The ASW-15 is probably considered around that performance. *Also if you hit 70+ yrs of age, you take a hit on the premium. *Personally, I found it was worth having the trailer on the policy. I'm not an insurance guy but just a regular consumer who has shopped around for a few decades. Barry I'm not sure about the other plans, but your flying (in-motion) hull coverage is the equivalent of renter/non-owner insurance up to your hull limits under Costello. However, if you put it on winter lay-up (ground only), you lose this protection during that period. Some clubs have high deductibles for operating club gliders and encourage members to have renter/non-owner coverage. A few clubs and commercial self-insure their hulls and rely on the pilots carrying such coverage.. I believe USAIG dropped this type of coverage 2-3 years ago. Frank Whiteley |
#17
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I also have an ASW 15 insured with Costello. Hull is insured for
$14,500 and trailer for $1500. My premium was around $600. I have about 350 flights and 200 odd hours. I am an SSA member. I don't know why your premium would be so much higher. I also had a claim several years ago for about $2400. They were very easy to work with. This resulted in an increase in premium for a few years and then it dropped back down. Mike |
#18
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At 18:26 04 November 2008, noel.wade wrote:
Costello was decent for my Russia, but they require full payment in advance and came across as very limited in terms of options or flexibility. Costello also now balks at "winter storage" or "non- flying status". Is this problem with non-flying status a recent experience? I've always taken my glider off for the winter, and was just figuring out when I should do it this year. Jim Beckman |
#19
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At 20:10 04 November 2008, Frank Whiteley wrote:
I'm not sure about the other plans, but your flying (in-motion) hull coverage is the equivalent of renter/non-owner insurance up to your hull limits under Costello. However, if you put it on winter lay-up (ground only), you lose this protection during that period. Some clubs have high deductibles for operating club gliders and encourage members to have renter/non-owner coverage. I'm no expert on insurance, but this issue has been discussed in our club, and I don't think it works the way you are describing. The problem is, at least for clubs, that each individual member is, in fact, an owner of the club gliders. So renter insurance isn't going to help you at all. In the case where your own glider and the club gliders are both insured by Costello, I have no idea what rules would apply. Anybody who understands the situation better, feel free to correct me. I wouldn't like people to assume coverage and then find out when it's too late that it doesn't apply. Jim Beckman |
#20
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Jim - Yes, I ran into this problem in July when I bought my DG-300 and
wanted to take my AC-4 off flying status while I tried to sell it. (Its still for sale, BTW... I flew the DG so much I didn't take any time to sell it! $10k OBO - I got a great deal on it when I bought it, and just need enough money out of it to complete a down-payment on my first home this winter.) --Noel |
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