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Hi Paul,
To be honest, I'm surprised you received any quote at all for a twin seeing as you have no twin time and relatively low retract time. Couple that with you considering a P-model as well, as I said, I'm shocked someone even quoted you.
It appears today's insurance world is about as challenging as its ever been in my 30 years of airplane ownership which is why I made my previous comment. I purchased my 1973 C337G (no pressure, no turbo, you'd have both of those features) in 2002 with 14 hours of multi engine time (which were the hours acquired to get my conventional multi and ATP ratings). I also had a little more than 1500 hours total time of which half of that was retract time.
To the best of my recollection my first year was about $2500 for $90K hull and a million liability with the $100K per passenger limitation. Over the years and hours, that steadily reduced to a low of about $1900 for the same coverage. About two years ago that all changed and jumped back up to the $2500 annual renewal. My hours now are about 3500 total time with 1400 hours in type and still flying/owning the same Skymaster.
Like yourself, I moved up from a Cherokee 6 (great airplane). As my mechanic warned me back in 2002, THE SKYMASTER IS NOTHING LIKE A CHEROKEE 6 WHEN IT COMES TO MAINTENANCE! He was right.
I do not want to scare you off at all, BUT in my little opinion, you will likely pay 3 times (maybe 4 if not more) to maintain a pressurized Skymaster than a Cherokee 6. I'm sure the opinions will vary widely and if you read my posts over the years on this site, I readily admit I likely pay more than most for maintenance.
Two reasons for this are I do very little maintenance myself other than oil changes etc., and I live in Chicago. I pay a Cessna certified repair station to do all my maintenance and have had the same IA for almost the entire 30 years I have owned airplanes. There is nothing he does not know about Cessna aircraft. I have paid handsomely for it but in return my airplane works. If you posses the skills and tools and are able to do your own maintenance, then your operating costs will reduce significantly. I simply want your expectations to be in line with the step up you are considering. The people on this site love their Skymasters and so do I. I am extremely happy looking back that I still operate mine BUT, they are not cheap.
The best of luck with your search!
Sincerely,
Ed
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