Track Insurance?

I just registered for my first DE at Lime Rock in April. Woohoo! As far as track insurance goes, I am hearing opinions from two expert driver friends: 1) I never get it, and 2) I get it sometimes. I suppose if you are driving yer $130K turbo/GT/blah/blah it might be wise to pony up $500 in insurance for the day, but in my '03 Carrera with an instructor in a controlled DE event, is the insurance recommended? $30K insurance will be about $200. Further, insuring for the full value of the car assumes I will total it, along with myself, in which case who cares if I had the insurance or not :-) So another thought is to insure for maybe half the value, assuming some kind of less than total damage. And even in the event of totaling it - and surviving - surely I could part it out with the engine/tranny still in one piece. What do youse guys do for track insurance?

Have not tracked my c4s yet.... But I have done numerous events in my s2 and never bought insurance Not sure you need it for your First event.... You will not get signed off to drive solo... And I don't think the instructor will let you get out of your skill zone. That said.... If it makes you feel better... Get it... It does not sound expensive

I never bought it but if it's on your mind get it.

You can buy coverage for 1 event or multiple events from Lockton Affinity. They have a high deductible on these policies. $5,000 if I remember correctly.

I did two events at Lime Rock and one here in the Pacific Northwest. In one event, no one crashed but in the other two there were accidents. I guess the odds are something like 2%. One case may not have been covered by the large deductible but the other looked like a total loss. $200 on a $30K car is 0.6%. Insurance companies are in it to make money so I guess they have the odds figured out right. My vote is to get the insurance and enjoy the experience.

From what I have read, for a DE event, your regular insurance should give you coverage. You need to check with your insurance company If it is a competitive event, that includes any timed laps, your regular insurance may not cover you. Again, you need to check with your ins company. That is the very reason many events are not advertised as a race DE - probably regular insurance covers you TT - maybe, but probably not AX - maybe, but probably not Club racing - no way, Jose with regular insurance It sucks that your regular policy will cover you if your crash your car driving 30 miles over the speed limit drunk, but not in a safe (?) controlled environment, stone cold sober at a track

I sometimes get track insurance at Road Atlanta because walls are close to track and T 12 is intimidating. Everywhere else I skip it. Your call though. Nobody can make it for you. The comment of "2% accident rate" seems about right in my experience. Accidents are not usually in the beginner groups however.

I would call you insurance company and see if you are covered. I have State Farm and was told I was covered because it is technically a drivers education event and not racing or an open track day. Sent from my iPad using Rennlist

If you have an instructor in the car it may qualify as a training class as far as your insurance is concerned which they may cover. Definitely call your agent and see what they say.

It will vary dramatically by state. I can confirm that the state farm policy issued in PA does not cover damage occurring on a track during a drivers education session. If wadding up your car would be a major financial hit, call your agent and ask before you head out so you have accurate information.

I had heard before my first event that people didnt buy either. I went to maybe my 5/6th track day at the Glen and spoke with others and they all had insurance. Think of it as a way to "keep you in the game". From what I understand, there are very few road insurance policies that will cover anything that happens on track. I have carried ever since as just seems silly not to. Anything can happen. I have Lockton as they cover events in Canada as well as the US. Cant even think of doing this without insurance at this point. Take the high deductable and the agreed-value (you get to set where you want). Ive seen way too many people have some sort of incident. Like everything else, you wont need it....untill you do.

Most likely not covered with your personal car insurance policy. The vast majority of the companies are excluding coverage for a mishap that occurs on a racing surface, including the parking lot, regardless of whether the event is educational based (vs. a speed or a timed event). The insurance companies are wise to track events and they are increasingly not insuring the vehicles for these types of events. You must check your policy and the exclusion, don't rely on your agent's word. Having said that, remember that you could simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time, if a car in front of you dumps some coolant or oil, even though it wasn't due to running out of skill....... s*#t happens.......if you are okay with covering the cost of fixing or replacement, skip the insurance. If, on the other hand, you don't want to write a check to fix it, the insurance is somewhat of a type of peace of mind, should something happen....only you can make THAT call. For the most part, probably not going to have "an event"....... FWIW, I have had my car insured with track insurance every time it goes out. Should something happen, the $$$ will go to a GT3, not to fixing up my 12 year old car....that's the plan anyway. Remember, track insurance only covers physical damage to the vehicle, not personal liability, and it also does not cover the bill you could get from the track............. it is an expensive hobby, with considerable risk and exposure,...........manage your comfort zone accordingly. GL and Enjoy LRP!!!!!!! You will most hopefully become a track junkie!!!!!!!

At a DE where you likely have large fields in each group, I would get the insurance. Even more so if the weather forecast is iffy. Granted, accidents aren't very common, but they do happen in all groups. If you can easily afford to walk away from your car in the event of a total loss, then forget the insurance. Once you become hopelessly addicted to the sport and get an "inexpensive" track car (maybe a spec 944, spec e30, spec Miata, etc) you might forego the recurring insurance expense. Personally, I would be very reluctant to even ask my insurance company if they cover a loss at a DE - they probably do not, and the mere suggestion might be a "red flag" (pun intended) to them.

Have not used it. First day was a little intimidating, but having my first instructor explained that the first goal is safety, in so doing he explained that he would not push me to do anything that he felt was beyond my comfort level. Each day is a building block to further understand car control. Beginning groups have limited passing with only point by's which will be gone over in your first class. What club are you running with?

Search older posts in gt3 forums. Plenty of opinions and first hand experiences. grey area

Muchas gracias for all the input. One point not responded to is the amount of recommended insurance. Without thinking about it, most of us would probably figger on full replacement value, which would mean a total loss. Real world losses might keep an engine and drive train in place for parting out, or even much more. Does everyone simply figure on a 'total loss' and pay the premium for that? Or a more realistic scenario?

I have USAA vehicle insurance, and for a "non-competition" event on track, my regular insurance provides coverage at my policy terms. A "competition event" has timed laps. I have both cars and bikes insured through USAA, and they're all covered for DE-type events.

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And after a claim from such an event, they would likely cancel your policy.

Deck Man--- Looks like we have a bit in common!

check out www.ontrackinsurance.com I have used them most of the time. Min limit is 25K. Not sure about location, but I do not think you can go 15k value. I would be cautious of calling the insurance company. I have heard that USAA dropped someone for just calling. I have USAA and I am pretty sure my policy says not covered on a RACING SURFACE. If you are going to do it, why not cover the whole value. Don't forget, there is a hefty deductible also. You can actually up coverage if you have mods done and the value is higher than book.

You should also post this in the racing/DE subforum. What I know is that there are lots of guys who use lockton and other track day insurers. You have to wonder, if there was a regular insurer who covered DEs, why would Lockton et al have a viable business model?

I would figure out the amount you want to declare for the value of your car....have you added any safety equip (i.e, roll bar , harnesses, I don't mean fire extinguisher), have you changed the suspension, added custom wheels, etc? This will help you think about the amount of coverage you want. Lockton and ontrackinsurance (Steve Katz, i believe) will be very helpful in adducing your value determination and there is a 5% (or 10%) option for a deductible. Not trying to scare you, as I instruct, and safety is simply the goal, period! These cars are expensive to fix....a bumper cover, quarter panel, etc., might not look too bad, but if the tub is bent.......or a shot to the rear......it might just be a total loss. As for any salvage value and buying the car back to part it out, think about where you are going to store it and who is going to remove the parts, pack them up and get them to shipping.........in theory, sure, in actuality, more of a pain the *** than one might think.......... again GL, and have a blast at the track!!!!

I had another thread going on this, kicked off because of my Ford Raptor - Geico dropped it when they found out I was doing driving events with it. Which started a search and me reading all that damn fine print on policies. I don't qualify for USAA, but I did find that Farmers Insurance does not have any exclusions that mention track days, off roading, or the like. The only exclusions that they have built in is using your car for money generating purposes (most likely as a hedge against Uber). I have now moved everything to Farmers.

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My State Farm agent in Texas says I am not covered

Why wouldn't you get it? Unfortunately I had a claim and On Track handled it professionally.

I have always gotten insurance, it's just good peace of mind and you concentrate more on driving and having fun Which lime rock event are you going to. I'll be there with NNJR april 8,9

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My insurance is the same way. As long as it is not a "timed event" and it is drivers education I am technically covered. Although from my friend who owns an insurance agency, I probably will be covered for a first incident, but my be dropped after that.

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I will be there Apr. 7 with Hudson Valley PCA. I looked for NNJR Lime Rock events at ClubRegistration.net and see no listings for NNJR.

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NNJR uses http://www.motorsportreg.com/ Check out their schedule, they have some great DEs lined up for this year.

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be sure to properly value your car. Totaling car is some percentage of value - let's say 80%. So if you insure car for only 10k and do 8k in damage, the insurance company can total your car and you may get an 8k check but they keep your car. Check with he insurer, but that would be a reason to buy proper level of insurance coverage. -td

I just renewed my insurance and carefully scanned it for the following exclusion: "Operating a motor vehicle in a race or speed test;" Would a DE at Lime Rock with instructor fall into this category?

Probably. I am, in fact a lawyer and have some insurance coverage experience. I am not, of course, your lawyer nor am I intimately familiar with your policy and your state's laws. What I can say with confidence is that if you total your car on a track your insurance company will almost certainly rely on that language to deny your claim.

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I'm an insurance agent in NC. Until a couple of years ago, there were no exclusions in NC for anything related to the track. Now there is, it has yet to be tested but will soon be with the death of an instructor at Summit Point. The driver of the car was from NC. Prior to this change in the law, Safeco was pretty liberal. They actually paid for a totaled Corvette and didn't cancel coverage. This was probably due to the fact that they are so computerized and a human seldom sees the policy. From my exerience, if you even talk about it to the company you are cancelled!

There was a really good article in the Wall Street Journal a couple of years ago on this subject. It boiled down to the fact that more and more insurance companies will not cover you for any damage in a DE-event, on a racing surface, TT, etc. The article specifically noted the experience of a guy who called his insurance company - USAA - to ask if he would be covered were he to participate in a driver's education event. According to the article, they cancelled him immediately even though he had no claims and a completely clean driving record. For what it's worth, I would think the decision to get track day insurance will depend on your situation - what you're driving, your skill level, the track, etc. I haven't gotten extra insurance myself, but have seen a few accidents on the track where I hoped the owner was insured.

Step 1: buy $4000 miata. Step 2: book track day. Step 3: laugh at notion of insuring it. Step 4: ????? Step 5: profit.

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I am in this exact process now.

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I love my 911 but holy **** is my miata fun.

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I drove one for three days at Sebring for the Skip Barber racing school and I couldn't stop smiling. The Porsche is the **** but you are correct, Miata's are a blast! I can't wait to pick one up. Sadly, the 996 will have to go though.

Well, I am the girl who spun and hit the guardrail and I am glad as hell that I had track insurance.

On Track Insurance. I get it for every event. Have never needed it (yet). Bonus: 2nd day of a 2 day event is no extra cost.

Most major auto insurance carriers don't buy the "driver's education" argument, limiting coverage to when operated on public access roads and adjacent venues, like parking lots, driveways,etc. Old Adage: All forms of insurance are a waste of money...until you need it. relinuca

Out of curiosity how much does it typically cost. Sent from my iPad using Rennlist

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It will vary depending on your car and the facility (facilities with higher incident rates have higher premiums with some insurers). I paid about $200-250 (I don't remember exactly) for a day at Summit Point with my 02 Targa. A buddy of mine just did Streets of Willow and paid $400 with his 997 C4S. They are declared value policies, so the higher the declared value the higher the premium +/- any adjustment for the facility.

I pay about $200 per event (1 or 2 day) with On Track Insurance. That is with their 6 event discount and for an agreed coverage of $35K.

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Just called my agent and asked, had a few other questions for them anyway. Not covered through them. They didn't say anything about dropping me, just that I wouldn't be covered on a racetrack. Which in a way makes sense as it's outside of the normal scope of normal driving.