I just wrapped up a grueling week at the world’s largest fly-in airshow event – EAA Oshkosh! Four busy days covering the grounds and seeing a ton of industry colleagues, customers, and OEMs.
OSH week is probably the single biggest opportunity of the year to meet and have a conversation with your insurance underwriter. Virtually all underwriters operating in the USA send representatives to the show – some have a ‘booth’, while others have mobile teams that roam the grounds throughout the week. If you are ever looking to meet with your insurance underwriter, you generally can arrange it during OSH week via your insurance broker. It’s a great casual environment to get together and discuss your specific risk with your insurer directly. While underwriting meetings are more common for commercial risks and turbine aircraft, you certainly can glean some value as a piston operator by visiting with your carrier’s team and covering any questions that come to mind.
In the past few years, as a broker, I have hosted a ‘booth’, but generally speaking, I roam the grounds every day at OSH as that allows me to cover more contacts throughout the day. There are also a good number of insurance brokers represented at OSH who do exactly what I do – network, walk the grounds, and visit with OEM’s and customers. I often find that OSH is the place I can connect with long-time customers I might never have met in person. OSH attracts just about everyone, so if you make the trip, there’s a good chance you’ll run into the folks who handle your policy, both the broker and underwriter alike.