Insurance Issues
 

Alright, this has really been bugging me lately. We've got these cars that were built to be driven and enjoyed, yet whenever we try to enjoy them someone steps on our toes, even if it's legal racing. I've heard horror stories of people having their insurance cancelled because they took their car to an autox or open track day. I can understand them not wanting to cover you during the event, but i don't see the reasoning behind getting cancelled.

Anyways, my question is, do any of you guys run special insurance policies which will cover you for a little more $$ every month, or do you just race and hope that your insurance provider won't find out? I want to race, but I can't afford paying extra to race when I only do it 2 or 3 times a month. I also don't want to get cancelled for racing. I have yet to talk to my insurance provider about it, but I'd like some input from you guys as well. Thanks,
Brian

most race cars are not street legal and do not carry any insurance. open track cars that are driven to the track are sometimes covered by there existing policy(lots of companies are excluding damage done at race tracks), but once a claim has been filed from the track I can almost guarantee you will be cancelled. there are specialised insurance policies for race cars that cover damage at the track, but the premiums tend to be very high. if it is a professional race and the car is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars then a $10,000 policy would seem legitimate for a weekends race. but a $200-$300 dollar policy for a weekend of open tracking in a car that is less than $20,000 doesn't seem like such a good idea. these policies are generally event type deals(for one weekend or race). I tell people interested in racing to get their feet wet in one or two open track events, while being careful not to crash their daily driver. then think whether or not you can make the jump to racing. then start to move away from open tracking the daily driver and start to move towards the dedicated race car. you can continue to open track the car but don't rely on it to get to work. I have seen dozens of people stranded at the track with their totalled daily driver wondering how to get it home and how they are going to get to work/school on monday. when open tracking or auto-x things can happen so be prepared.

oh, i meant just a daily driven car. i got a nice reality check after seeing a 300zx get some air after nailing a curb, so i know things can go wrong. i'm more afraid of wrecking on a road course than at an autox because of the higher speeds. i've only got liability on my fc so hopefully that will work.

liability insurance should not be affected since this only covers cars you might hit not your own car. never heard of anyone collecting money from someone else's insurance for a track related accident(could happen I suppose). I wouldn't brag to my insurance agent about my on track exploits either if you know what I mean.

oh i don't plan to, but i don't want them to go looking for stats listed on scca's website and see my name and car there.

open track events are different from drivers schools. As I understand it you can collect if you crash in an on-track driving school with an instructor in the car, since it is NOT a competetive event, it is a driver improvement event.

(I could be wrong tho!)

Do insurance guys really cancel if you are caught in "only" an Auto-X event?

well it's racing and i think they only see it in black and white.

open tracking and auto-x are not racing but the insurance(most cases) definition is any timed event(time trialing and auto-x). Again I have seen alot of these crashes and I have heard of mixed results. most have been repaired by their comprehensive policy. I have never seen anyone collect from another cars liability policy. as for the insurance agent or company scanning the race results for customers, I doubt that this happens much. to much work for lazy agents and companies. likely they would cancel your policy if they had a claim that originated from a race track incident. recently I have heard alot of insurance companies are adding exclusions to policies that would not cover open track damage. best to read the fine print of policies or be prepared to fix it yourself.

You never EVER say you were in an event where you were competing, that means other people or time. Depending on the track (parking log) for auto-x you can sometimes get away with taking it home and filing your claim form there. This is straight from most of the older auto-x themselves. You never want to even mention you were at the event.

You had an accident on a back road where it was wet, plain and simple. Too fas for conditions is your friend.

Thanks for the info guys!

this is what I would probably do if it happened to me, but it is still filing a false or misleading insurance claim which is illegal. be careful while hot lapping or auto-x ing the daily driver.

i probably wouldn't even file a claim if i fucked the car up racing. depends on how bad things were though. thanks for the help guys, i feel much better now.

I have had my insurance company try to avoid paying a THEFT claim, stating I was racing my car. I have never raced my car, yet they tried to prove I had. The ONLY way they could prove I was racing my car is if they found publicly posted results. They spent a week trying to do this. The adjuster told me herself that was what they were doing.

You may find this thread in our SOLO board interesting. An insurance agent that was lurking on the board decided to 'enlighten' us, and you can see the results. Insurance "Discussion"

you guys aren't in the US though, i'm sure some things are a little different between companies, albeit probably not any better.

man, i read through that whole thing. what a raw deal. sorry to hear about your problems. it's too bad this shit is enforced by law. perhaps if the gov't mandates it, maybe they should control it some more.

i'm glad someone finally put up the age discrimination card, what bullshit. i keep feeling that there's always an obstacle to being and doing something that i love and is of no harm to others. now, how many instances of a people getting tattooed with oil pans have been recorded? the spectators aren't close enough to get injured and before they enter, all must sign a waiver accepting the risk. i can't see how you can be sued when you do that, unless the waiver is only to save the scca's ass. what a crock, i had some respect for that guy until he turned into a money-grubbing snake.