by jeff edwards

There have been many discussions lately in various forums about insurance availability and cost for your Lancairs. One person wrote that it was unfair that the ES or Legacy or whatever model (fill in the blank) was getting hit with premium increases because of accidents and incidents with the IVP’s or (fill in the blank). Insurance is not about fairness. It is about risk and profit. Insurance is about mitigating losses that an insured may have.

An insurance policy is a contract between the insurance company and you. You are mitigating the risk of a loss, and the insurance company that assumes the risk you represent in exchange for the premium you pay is spreading your risk among a pool of like insureds. The insurance company is betting (actuarially) that its losses will be lower than the total it collects in premiums. When the insurance company losses are higher than collective premium we all pay it either raises premiums or exits the market (or goes out of business).

The reality of insurance is that underwriters look at the risk pool (all Lancairs) and make premium decisions based on Lancair losses, the value of the aircraft (hull) and other factors such as pilot experience. Underwriters see a lot of losses in the Lancair fleet, and it will take many years of fewer losses before premiums come down. Our accident trend line is declining but still has a ways to go. As of today we have had no fatal accidents this year, but our community lost an Evolution and a Legacy in the last few months (so don’t screw that up and make me eat my words). We are over halfway through the year and have had very few losses. Let’s see if we can make this year one with zero fatal accidents.

How can you help?

1. Fly—get out and spread your wings and log some hours. Our data analysis has proven over and over that more experienced Lancair pilots have fewer accidents. The average Lancair owner is only getting 30 hours a year in their Lancair.
2. If you have not flown in a while, aren’t current or in need of training for insurance purposes, LOBO and other training providers are here to help. We have greatly expanded our flight instructor numbers and will be adding more soon.
3. If you are thinking of selling your Lancair you can protect yourself and greatly benefit the Lancair community by insisting the new owner gets transition training from an approved flight training provider. When you write your Lancair sales contract include a requirement for transition training.
4. Attend the 2017 LOBO/Lancair Landing in Santa Fe on Labor Day weekend, where you'll learn more about your Lancair or Evolution. It will be a great weekend! Research shows that pilots who belong to type clubs AND participate in their activities (membership is not enough) are significantly safer than non-members.
5. Recruit! Help us find the Lancair owners that are not members and invite them to join and participate in our great organization.

For questions and comments about this post contact Jeff via email: j.edwards [at] lancairowners.com.