Marty, Paul's LSA is used commercially - that is, for both flight instruction and rental. Consequently, his premium is going to be substantially more than coverage for a plane flown for non-commercial purposes.
Having said that, folks new to aviation and to LSA a/c are sometimes surprised by the high initial premiums charged by insurance carriers. These somewhat eye-opening premiums appear to be set for a number of reasons: limited FAA accident data (since the a/c class has only existed for 8 years), varied interest by the individual carriers in providing coverage to this class, this a/c class being somewhat less capable to handle some flight conditions (the crosswind comments apply here), and some PPL pilots receiving inadequate (at least, for them) transition training to LSA's. All of these factors are maturing over time, of course.
Here are a couple of referrals I think you might find helpful, since you're still 'hanging in there' and researching all this:
-- AOPA offers free 6-month membership to student pilots, including SP students. Join AOPA (aopa.org) - consider taking a 'first SP lesson' if that's really necessary - and then mine their extremely broad range of student-related and aircraft ownership-related tutorials, articles, etc. to bore in on the issues you wish to further research. Forums like this one can only pass so much (accurate) info. Specifically and as one small example of their resources, download the AOPA aircraft-ownership Excel spreadsheet, which is cleverly designed to prompt you for info necessary for the kind of plane you are intending to buy, own & fly, and generate ownership costs, annually, based on your info. A good way to get started ID'ing the varied, vetted, professionally prepared resources AOPA offers its members is to simply call one of their technical counselors (once you are a member), tell him/her what you are trying to further research, and let them help you ID the relevant resources.
-- WRT insurance specifically, I suggest you call Falcon Insurance (
http://www.falconinsurance.com). There are many (many!) aviation insurance brokers, including a brokerage affiliated with AOPA, that write for a variety of carriers, have eons of experience, and can answer any Q's you might have. I recommend Falcon because of their excellent rep, the quality of the carriers they write for, and the candid info I got from them about the aviation insurance industry when shopping for coverage. You won't need to seek a quote (and you shouldn't, yet...) to get an overview of what to expect if you are a newly licensed SP with very limited PIC time and an LSA a/c of a given value, based at a specific airport (and hangared or out on the ramp?). It will boil down to a higher premium for an initial period of time, and then a ratcheting down of the premium should you remain accident and claim free, which is typical for all new pilots who wish to become a/c owners.
_________________
Jack
RAF Florida State Liaison
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