Is insurance cheaper for LSA's than regular aircraft?

[Zonno]

While fuel burn rate of Light Sport Aircraft is great compared to regular aircraft, will insurance, maintenance (parts), and annuals be any cheaper?

[Dantilla]

Interesting question. The answer is still evolving, as we don't know yet what the LSA accident rate will look like.

As a general rule, since the LSA flies so slowly, it will crash more slowly, increasing chances of survival. Ultimately, the LSA insurance rates will be based on the claims against them. Since they are cheaper to buy, I'm sure they will also be cheaper to repair, keeping insurance rates down.

The problem will be if they generate a very high accident rate. Then the insurance rates will follow.

[Denny of Oakland]

As one that does aircraft accident investigations as part of my other duties, since LSA has been around about three full years the accident rate is looking good (low). However the experimental homebuilt accident rates are much higher and rising.

Being one who follow accident trends the experimental homebuilt rate is climbing as the original owners sell their aircraft and the new owners don’t know how to maintain them or are they willing. On the other hand LSA owners spend more time looking over their pride and joy. Yes LSA do fly slower, but most accidents are on landing so I don’t think speed will play a part in accident rates.

In my opinion the biggest factor in accident rates is the weight of the aircraft when it hits the ground. LSA are less then 1,100 pounds vs. a Type Certificated (T/C) aircraft weighting in at twice the weight with added baggage. More weight more damage to the airframe.

In two to three years as the data catches up we will know the real numbers, right now we are all waiting to see.

[Zonno]

In AOPA magazine, I've seen a few LSA's such as the CTLS that boast around a 120 ktas cruise (while burning only about 5 gph ), so there are some that are fairly fast. But speed is not an issue with me, it's CHEAPNESS. Now, I know that all aircraft are going to be somewhat expensive, but for me it's all about the low fuel burn rate, inexpensive parts required to maintainence, and rarely having to order any parts at all to maintain (except for the annual). That's why I wondered what insurance would be like.