Contest Insurance Grumblings

At 20:53 03 April 2012, noel.wade wrote:
OK, just had to post: Is anyone else here really annoyed at the SSA's
insurance requirement "changes" for this year?

But setting up a de-facto monopoly just rubs me the wrong
way... Annoyed that I'm being forced to change carriers,

--Noel



Im with Noel, I am even more ****ed that they (SSA) didn't give any notice
(should have been at least a year) for those of us who already renewed
before there notice. I have had excellent coverage with avemco but my
policy doesn't end until July.

And it sure smacks of a monopoly move on the sailplane market.

Prompted by the Hobbs midair, before renewing last year and after talking
last summer with Avemco the argument against larger limits is well fought
by them. Essentially they will fight to not pay out more and have some
(according to the agent I talked to) litigation going on for several years
and several million dollars in attorneys fees to not pay to the gold
diggers looking for a deep pocket. Also according to the agent, they have
NEVER paid out more than the 100,000 to an individual and don't intend to
start now!

CH (no contests in my future till they come to their senses or I come to
mine or at least until I renew

I have recently had some insight into the aftermath of a midair collision with 2 fatalities and believe me the SSA requierment IS A BIG DEAL. Sure, your insurance company is required to fight for you in court, but if things go against you, AVEMCO will toss in $100,000 and walk away! Costello will pay out a maximum of $1,000,000. I really can't imagine any accident where AVEMCO would even come close to their $1,000,000 for each accident..............the accident would have to involve killing 10 people!
Bottom line is; AVEMCO was charging me $40 bucks more than Costello for 1/10 the coverage.
JJ Sinclair

For many years I used L. L. Johns agency....the agent is John Gostinger. I had previously used AVEMCO. L. L. Johns writes insurance for USAIG as I recall.

I had no reason to re up this year so do not know how the new rule would affect their policy

It might be worth a call to John Gostinger to check it out. Their web site is here

http://lljohns.com/

Phone is 1-800-662-4401

Jim

To be perfectly honest, every time I talk to Costello (including yesterday) it feels rude, short and uncomfortable. We have a number of pilots in our area who currently use them. In addition I insure a contest and a large hangar thru them. If you listened to the phone calls we have made with fairly simple questions you would think that we were bill collectors instead of paying customers of several years...it is frankly getting that bad. I am strongly considering a change.

I am very disappointed in their general customer care, consistent poor demeanor and very distinct lack of friendly-ness. This is not just I but a number of others and we have all been discussing it recently. Nothing is more important to me after spending 5k a year with someone (2 gliders, hangar, contest). We should be treated like gold, not like a piece of dog****.

Anyone else know what I am talking about?

Sean
F2

On Tuesday, April 3, 2012 4:53:14 PM UTC-4, noel.wade wrote:
OK, just had to post: Is anyone else here really annoyed at the SSA's
insurance requirement "changes" for this year?

I had an unpleasant experience with Costello when I bought my first
sailplane (2007). I was very satisfied with my move to Avemco for the
last 4 years. They've provided me with comparable rates & coverage,
flexible payment plans, and helpful, friendly staff. Unfortunately,
they cannot comply with the revised/clarified requirements for soaring
contest liability insurance.

In fact, it seems that only one carrier out there words their policy
in a way that the SSA approves of: Costello.

I know that Costello has a positive relationship with the SSA and
witnessed the nice check they handed over to the SSA at the Reno
convention. But setting up a de-facto monopoly just rubs me the wrong
way... Shouldn't private companies be competing to do business with
us, as a group of several-hundred customers (who are likely to have
good income and be a relatively low risk of defaulting on our
payments)?

The "disputed" issue is a little bit of extra coverage for bystanders
(or other pilots in a midair). Does that actually help defuse any
ridiculous litigation or civil suits or financial penalties, in the
wake of an accident? It certainly doesn't provide any special
indemnification for the SSA, so I highly doubt it has a practical
benefit in a legal/liability situation. Seems to me that the primary
benefit of this insurance requirement is that it guarantees Costello a
certain volume of business each year.

Annoyed that I'm being forced to change carriers,

--Noel

I have not had any issues with Costello and have been treated very well.
We use them for all of our club's aircraft. For my personal gliders, I am
insured with LL John and my agent is John Gostinger. He is a great guy!

Randy

My experience with Costello has been nothing but professional and easy.

Perhaps the problem isn't with them...

Kirk
66

On Wednesday, April 4, 2012 1:05:34 PM UTC-4, kirk.stant wrote:
My experience with Costello has been nothing but professional and easy.

Perhaps the problem isn't with them...

Kirk
66

Kirk,

Perhaps you need a beatdown.

Sean

Anyone else know what I am talking about?

Nope

On Wednesday, April 4, 2012 10:36:19 AM UTC-4, Sean Fidler wrote:
To be perfectly honest, every time I talk to Costello (including yesterday) it feels rude, short and uncomfortable. We have a number of pilots in our area who currently use them. In addition I insure a contest and a large hangar thru them. If you listened to the phone calls we have made with fairly simple questions you would think that we were bill collectors instead of paying customers of several years...it is frankly getting that bad. I am strongly considering a change.

I am very disappointed in their general customer care, consistent poor demeanor and very distinct lack of friendly-ness. This is not just I but a number of others and we have all been discussing it recently. Nothing is more important to me after spending 5k a year with someone (2 gliders, hangar, contest). We should be treated like gold, not like a piece of dog****.

Anyone else know what I am talking about?

Sean
F2

On Tuesday, April 3, 2012 4:53:14 PM UTC-4, noel.wade wrote:
OK, just had to post: Is anyone else here really annoyed at the SSA's
insurance requirement "changes" for this year?

I had an unpleasant experience with Costello when I bought my first
sailplane (2007). I was very satisfied with my move to Avemco for the
last 4 years. They've provided me with comparable rates & coverage,
flexible payment plans, and helpful, friendly staff. Unfortunately,
they cannot comply with the revised/clarified requirements for soaring
contest liability insurance.

In fact, it seems that only one carrier out there words their policy
in a way that the SSA approves of: Costello.

I know that Costello has a positive relationship with the SSA and
witnessed the nice check they handed over to the SSA at the Reno
convention. But setting up a de-facto monopoly just rubs me the wrong
way... Shouldn't private companies be competing to do business with
us, as a group of several-hundred customers (who are likely to have
good income and be a relatively low risk of defaulting on our
payments)?

The "disputed" issue is a little bit of extra coverage for bystanders
(or other pilots in a midair). Does that actually help defuse any
ridiculous litigation or civil suits or financial penalties, in the
wake of an accident? It certainly doesn't provide any special
indemnification for the SSA, so I highly doubt it has a practical
benefit in a legal/liability situation. Seems to me that the primary
benefit of this insurance requirement is that it guarantees Costello a
certain volume of business each year.

Annoyed that I'm being forced to change carriers,

--Noel

I have had excellent service at all times from the fine people at Costello and Assoc.
They go out of their way to be helpful, informative and friendly.
They have all my business
UH

I insured through Costello for years (they're the SSA's broker of
record, not the actual carrier). When I went on the SSA Board of
Directors back in the late 80s, I learned that the insurance company
itself had begun to insist on a letter from a doctor for older pilots
despite that not being necessary per the FARs. Costello didn't appear
to be fighting it on the SSA's behalf. It put us in the odd position
of representing to the FAA that soaring pilots should continue to be
allowed to self certify their medical fitness but our own SSA
insurance saying something completely different. After this came out,
the Board directed Costello to push back and all was eventually put
right, but I was somewhat annoyed with the whole affair. At the next
SSA convention, I described the situation to the Avemco rep there and
he laughed: "I can't believe you (i.e., the SSA) are sending us all
your best risks (i.e., older, more careful and experienced pilots)." I
got a better quote and switched to Avemco, where I insured happily for
quite a few years. More recently I started worrying about Avemco's
$100K per person limit vs. $1 million per accident and asked if they
could provide the higher limit per person. They said not, even if I
were willing to pay more. So somewhat regretfully, I switched back to
insuring through Costello.

However, they, like Avemco, have been great to deal with. The SSA's
group policy is slightly less flexible than Avemco was regarding
winter storage--Avemco allowed me to stop and restart inflight
coverage it when I wanted, even more than once during the winter if I
didn't get carried away. The SSA policy requires me to pick stop and
restart dates in advance. But otherwise it's been seamless. Actually,
both outfits have been good to work with: polite, responsive, and
helpful. I can heartily recommend both. I understand the reason for
the new policy regarding contest coverage and in today's litigious
climate I can't disagree. As I recall, Avemco has a nice pro-rate
premium clause that would allow an insured to terminate a policy mid-
term in order to switch carriers fairly easily, although Dave Nadler's
post indicates that might not be necessary.

I'm a free-market proponent so I endorse having some competition even
if the soaring market is a tiny one. The fact that it is so small
makes it less likely that any carrier will be as flexible as an
individual pilot might want them to be regarding specific insurance
needs. I haven't heard any horror stories about claims with either the
SSA group policy or Avemco.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
USA