Belly Landing - Involve the insurance company?

On May 24, 1:22*pm, "noel.wade" wrote:
All -

Would love opinions from anyone who's been through an insurance-
related claim on a glider... *My DG-300's gear collapsed on landing
Saturday. *The down-lock tab squished into the rubber "donut" spacer,
instead of pivoting into place beyond it, and I didn't notice the
difference (it was literally within 1/16th of an inch of being in the
fully locked position). *Left a nice white stripe down the first 75
yards along the centerline of the runway (why did it have to happen at
an asphalt strip, when I fly half the year on grass??). *Photos for
the morbidly curious: *http://picasaweb.google.com/noel.wad...ggearcollapse/

Structurally the ship seems good - banging on the damaged area yields
no flex or cracking, and the DG has a separate seat-pan; but contest
season is about to start for me in late June and I don't want the raw
glass exposed to the elements or sitting prone to further damage.

I lost the gelcoat and 1 or 2 layers of glass in an 8" x 15" area just
in front of the gear. *Gear doors are almost unscathed, but the guard-
ring/back-release on the belly-hook got ground down a bit - I'm sure a
replacement Tost system ain't cheap!

The big question right now is whether I involve the insurance
company. *I've got a loan on the glider, so its fully insured through
Avemco. *If its just glass-work I'd probably just pay out-of-pocket
and be done with it... but throw in potentially a little landing-gear
work and replacing the Tost belly-hook and I'm guessing it'll be a few
thousand $$...

Anyone have experience with filing a claim on aircraft damage with
Avemco or Costello? *How much of an ordeal was it? *How much did your
rates go up? *Any tips?

Thanks,

--Noel

Don't know about Avemco, but with Costelo it will increase your
premiums by couple of hundred bucks for 3 years, so if it is over $500
it worth making a claim. Best thing is to call them and ask, it
wouldn't hurt you if you decide not to make a claim.
One point to consider is that if you declare that the cause is purely
mechanical than it will not considered an accident and may not be
covered, you may need to blame it on rough landing to be covered.

Ramy