Direct to consumer aviation insurance firm launches

MINNEAPOLIS — 5X5 Aviation Insurance has launched its pilot-fueled, data-driven and direct-to-customer coverage for aircraft owners and pilots.

“By providing underwriting services directly to customers, we are able to make decisions immediately and provide customers choices on the coverage that best meets their needs,” says CEO and Founder Troy Kopischke, who saw the need for something better during flight training. “No more one size fits all. No more arbitrary age cutoffs. No inability to transition.”

The new company is active in five states — Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, and Virginia — with officials seeking regulatory approval to expand across all 48 contiguous states.

Company officials note that 5X5’s insurance model is built upon:

• Customization and choice: 5X5 provides multiple liability and hull coverage options. Policies and premiums are based on each individual’s record and needs, not on a blanket approach.
• No middleman: Coverage is sold directly by 5X5 without the back-and-forth and uncertainty of the broker model. Customers work directly with an underwriter who can make decisions that meet their needs and can obtain coverage right away.
• Safety rewards for regular training, membership in an owners and pilots association, frequent flying, and hangaring and maintaining aircraft.
• Pilots and owners who opt to share flight data earn discounts. 5X5 collects data to help customers improve skills, reduce premium costs, and improve coverage. Flight data remains confidential and isn’t shared with outside parties, company officials added.

5X5 also features its Instant Estimate Tool. Applicants answer questions about themselves, their aircraft, and flying habits and get a ballpark figure. In about 10 minutes, they get quotes with multiple hull and liability coverage options. The process can be done entirely online, but agents are ready to answer questions or handle applications by phone, company officials added.

The tool features a variety of aircraft, such as TBM, Piper M-series, Beechcraft King Air, as well as piston singles and twins from Cirrus, Diamond, Cessna and others. The list of makes and models will grow, company officials said.

“5X5 — an aviation radio call that means loud and clear — is all about giving customers the service and multiple options they’ve been missing. Anyone spending time around pilots hears — loud and clear — that the current aviation insurance process is broken, inefficient, and archaic, which produces uncertain, even wacky underwriting decisions around qualifications, coverage and premiums. 5X5 is changing that,” Kopischke concluded.

For more information: 5x5Insurance.com