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I just filled out the paperwork to renew the insurance on our 150. On it was noted that the average hull value of the 150 is now around $17,000.

Bill
Grants Pass, Oregon

Bill, I am in the process of re-looking my hull value...and thinking about increasing it significantly to something like $30,000.

We just had a hail storm where EVERY plane on the field was "totalled" by the stones...most folks had something like $17 - $20K on the hull.

OK, so if they pay you the $17,000, there is no way you can get what you were flying (in our cases). You'd need at least $25K to replace what we were flying before the storm.

Those who opted to keep the planes (which were still airworthy) were being offered only 70% of the hull value...which is better than nothing but not nearly enough to repair all the damage.

I am going to see what an increase to 30K from 20.5K will run me and I will let you all know...right now my total coverage is about $510 a year, so even another $50 a year would be worth it to me to be able to REPLACE my C-150.

Any other thoughts on this? I'd love to hear some alternative or contrary perspectives to help me make this decision.

MM

I remember reading an article about the issues of over insuring and under insuring an aircraft.

If the plane was under insured, the insurance company would give you the value of the policy, fix the plane and resell it for a profit.

If the plane was over insured, they would pay to fix it versus giving you the value of the policy. Which may not be desirable either.

The best option, according to the article, is insure as close as possible to the value of the aircraft.

Mike,

You may want to first call the insurance company and find out how much coverage they are willing to extend. $20k was the highest hull coverage I could get without providing some documentation of greater value. Mind you my model 150 is significantly older than yours so it's probably not an issue for you...but worth the phone call while you are deciding.

What Sandy said...

I insured mine for what I paid for it, but did call my insurance company today to ask about upping it for the new cylinders/prop and he said they'd be happy to adjust it accordingly. I asked if I could pick a nice round number....like 30K and he laughed and said to call back when I have my receipts in from the shop.

Yes my question had followed the wing rebuild and I was considering all the money I poured into new paint, windows, and fiberglass. My engine was still low time as well which increases VREF....but not enough. Again though...she's an older bird.

Let us know how it goes!

Even with a new O-320 in our airplane I still had to climb through hoops to get the value up to $30,000.

There are many 150's out there for $20,000 and under. I believe that you would have to have an exceptional airplane and find a very special buyer to get much more then $20,000 out of a 150. $30,000?

With that in mind, you may want to be careful about over insuring your airplane. Let's say you have an accident. And it costs under the $30,000 it is insured for to repair. The insurance company will elect to repair rather then pay out. Your airplane now goes into the shop for obviously major work for that amount of money. So, you are now without an airplane until the major repairs are made. Which could be a considerable amount of time. Plus you now have an airplane with damage history. I would rather be more realistic about the replacement cost of my airplane and have it totaled. Get a check and go out and buy a replacement.

Bill
Grants Pass, Oregon
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I had my 152 insured for $26,000 dollars. When it was totalled, I sort of wished that I had insured it for more than that.... Not at all unlike when you hit triple 7's in Vegas...you wish you had bet more. However, I thought I could replace it for 26 thousand. I didn't think mine was worth that, but in insuring the plane, I was thinking about replacement value.

With my current 150/150 TD...it's insured for $35,000 hull value. For that much, I'm sure a new set of wings could be found, or another engine could be had. Heck...you could buy a nice 150D, and have the conversions transferred. I figured that I'd do the work (providing I'm able after the reason the claim is filed). I also figured in the fact that there are lots of nice 150/150's out there in the low 20's...and one particularly sweet 150/150 (N150WW) out there for sale in the low 40's. I'd bet I could swing the additional 5 grand to acquire such a nice steed.

So...am I over-insured? Perhaps I am in somebody's book. But, in my book, and within my own budget, I'm not looking at recouping my initial cost, I'm looking at replacing what I've got.

Wow, great perspectives out there - THANK YOU ALL for taking the time to craft really good and thoughtful responses...even the divergent opinions make sense depending on your situation and philosophy of WHY you insure anything. Some do it because they legally HAVE to, others because they WANT to...

I did call AOPA insurance today, and, they said most "M" models out there in the '75-'77 year group were insured for something like $18,500 hull value.

I had $20,500 for $517 a year. I asked about $30,000 and they said they would need a bunch of forms, paperwork, appraisals, etc. to justify that, but I COULD go to $25,000 with no questions asked, so I did for an extra $39 a year, which seemed reasonable to me.

My quest in this is to KEEP FLYING after a disaster like the one we just had at Carlisle, PA with the huge hailstones.

I either want it repaired pronto, or the $25,000 to buy me a nice IFR replacement plane.

BTW, what Sandy said is spot-on...there are different hull values for different years. However, if you CAN prove you've made significant improvements, like avionics, engine overhaul, etc., you can get bumped up. MM

I bought my plane in 2006, paid $21,000. Insured it for $25,000.

I Have renewed my insurance policy with the same($25K) hull insurance, every year since, no questions asked, besides hours flown PIC, type aircraft(always the same, Cessna 150H), and additional ratings acquired (none!),......... had to be answered by me.

Plus, and here's the big plus, My premimun has decreased.