Insurance quotes

[Aim Far]

How do you get more than one insurance quote on an aircraft?

I am in the process of buying an plane and called round three agents. The first got back to me with a quote, the other two called back and said the underwriters wouldn't quote because they had already quoted to another agent. I asked why couldn't they try another underwriter but the one they called was "the most appropriate" and they didn't want to use any others.

Even if there is only one light aircraft insurance underwriting syndicate (which seems unlikely), surely there must be differences in the brokers commissions and charges and service levels which make it worth getting more than one quote?

Am I missing something here?

[IO540]

Aim Far

You've got to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL when getting aircraft insurance quotes! (Let me just say I learnt this the hard way some time ago)

In the UK, all GA insurance is done by ONLY approximately four Lloyds underwriters, and one insurance company which I believe is currently called BAIG or AIG.

But there are maybe fifty brokers. These are easily found via the internet and some advertise in the UK flying mags. A lot of them are rather "part time" operations.

If you want to make yourself extremely unpopular (uninsurable), write to them all for a quote :O

This isn't a competitive business like e.g. car or domestic insurance. This industry seriously dislikes people who shop around.

You can't go to an underwriter directly. I am PM'ing you with some details.

Unless you are doing something unusual, there won't be a lot of price variation. And if you get a low quote from some underwriter and later the same day a request from another broker (for the same plane) lands on his desk, he might just up the price. I saw a price go up 3x on one occassion. So you've got to play this carefully.

If you really want to just get lots of quotes, use a fictitious aircraft registration (check on G-INFO it doesn't exist first) but to be honest that isn't a good idea because you could make somebody else's future plane uninsurable instead. And some numbers are "taken" but don't appear on G-INFO.

Discuss carefully with your broker what your options are. For example, if you will have other pilots, "named pilots" is a lot cheaper than "club use" but is practically the same thing if you follow certain rules.

[Monocock]

Just call Flemings in London, they won't rip you off, they will pay up if the budgie bites the dust and they won't send you crap in the post.

Have been with them for 12 years and they're the best.

[Zlin526]

Ever seen a poor aircraft insurance man? It's a captive market and they aren't interested in undercutting others.

Get the picture?:{

[Keef]

It's very much a captive market. I've shopped around in the past - if you use the right firms, you can get more than one quote.

Last time I did it, I was quoted £2,700, £2,200 and £1,500 for the same aircraft - and in that order. We're still with the £1,500 one, but it's up to £2,000 now.

If you call three different insurers that use the same underwriter, then you will get the angry response.

Basically, the best advice is to use one of the big firms (the little ones don't seem to be able to compete, in my experience). Some of the big ones that used to advertise in the flying mags have stopped doing aviation insurance.

Ask some locals at your airfield: there may be a "local deal" with one of the firms that will save you 10% or so.

[IO540]

Keef

The problem is that all the firms advertising in the GA press are brokers, some one-man part-time operations, and half of them are going via another broker which is usually Hayward Aviation (which you can go to direct if you have not already prevented yourself from doing so).

To get more than one quote, the customer needs to directly ask the broker which underwriter he (the broker) uses, and ensure that the same underwriter does not end up doing more than one quote.

[LowNSlow]

monocock I've also found them to be very helpful and prompt as well as having very competitive prices. :ok:

[scottish_ppl]

I too was surprised to recive my policy documents afrom haywards after having gone through another broker. Jennings never quoted, despite phoning to chase them up, presumably for the reasons I now see above.
Question: whats best approach next year, will Hayward quote lower if I go direct or am I going to be tied to the broker I went with this year? Who's likely to give competetive quotes to Hayward?
This looks like an ideal topic for some kind of PPrune FAQ!

[BEagle]

Gave our old insurers the boot earlier this year when they tried to hike our rates by 5x inflation. Switched to the much cheaper and more efficient Traffords instead.....

[IO540]

scottish_ppl

You can change a broker anytime (just write to the new one a letter authorising them to take over the business).

But if your insurance is done by a broker who went via another broker, the final broker will not want to look like they cut somebody else out of the deal. In theory you could but in practice you are probably stuffed for good unless you terminate the cover for a few months and then re-apply. Luckily you aren't usually paying extra for it; they split the commission between them.

The downside of a chain of brokers is that claims will take longer to process. And if a claim takes place soon after you first sign up, there can be a delay of several months because the underwriter won't pay anything until he has received the first premium cheque, and it is not unusual for some brokers to hold on to your money for 60-90 days.