BAD JOKE?

THERE IS NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT THIS INSURANCE MARKET

- Dick Karl

Well, yes, I had left my phone on the Virgin Atlantic flight to London. So, yes, I was out of touch for the six days it took me to get it back from “Missing X” somewhere in the ductwork of Heathrow Airport. So, yes, there was a delay in receiving your voicemail.

When I did call our longtime aviation-insurance broker, Wenk Insurance, I was rewarded with some somber news regarding the insurance on our 2000 Cessna Citation CJ1—my pride and joy. When I say longtime broker, I am not kidding. I have had completely satisfying relationships with its founder, his daughter and now her son, named Tucker. That’s 40 years’ worth of trust.

The news was not just somber; it felt catastrophic. Our previous insurance for the CJ1 clocked in at just under $15,000 a year for full hull coverage (small deductible) and $5 million in liability with certain understandable, and reasonable, requirements for me to have a minimum number of hours, annual training and a current medical.

The new quote from a different carrier for the same coverage with the same requirements was $45,869— a 212 percent increase.

Let that sink in. Not 15 percent, not 100 percent, but 212 percent. I paid about that much for my first house, but I had help from the GI Bill back then.