Track Day Insurance

[SentraWV]

I doubt this comes as a shock to anybody here, but, FYI, your auto insurance most likely does not cover you (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/automobiles/19INSURE.html?hp) for any accident that might happen at a track day. Remember - if you can't afford to ride the bus home, think twice before hitting the track.

NP: Discipline, "Canto IV (Limbo)"

[SeanB]

Yep... hence why I run disposable cars.

Never race anything you can't afford to walk away from.

[RobbieNelson]

Instead of trying to define racing, policies exclude damage at any location that could accommodate racing, timed or not.

Good thing I don't frequent the streets of Long Beach. :rolleyes:


To make matters worse, asking insurers to clarify coverage could result in a nasty surprise. Mike Barr, a dentist from Palm Beach, Fla., called the insurer USAA to see if his policy covered his Subaru WRX STi on the track.

“Some months later I got a letter from USAA saying they were going to discontinue coverage,” he said.” “They dropped me because I asked about” performance driving schools. “They confirmed it verbally when I called to inquire further.” A USAA spokesman said Dr. Barr was canceled for “several reasons,” but would not elaborate.


Wow... that's harsh... and sounds a bit illegal.

[lmcgrew]

I know its included in fine print most of the time, about off road. I believe insurance has to cover you if you wreck your vehicle, but they can also drop you in the event of a claim. I could be wrong this is what i have heard.

[SentraWV]

I believe insurance has to cover you if you wreck your vehicle

Not if whatever you were doing at the time falls under an "exclusion" in the policy. In the same way that a life insurance policy has to pay out, unless you kill yourself.

[lmcgrew]

Yeah i guess its on the back of everyones mind that has a newer vehicle. So I guess you would have have to pull some insurance fraud to get paid.

[snake bit]

For some reason ;-) I know a little something about this.....lol At least as far as Nationwide is concerned.

All policies have exclusions for "racing", "timed events" "competitive driving" or some variation on the preceding. Nationwide uses "....while used in any competitive event, including but not limited to drag racing........." Although autocross is not "racing" per se, to say it's not a competitive event would be a difficult argument. Many would also be very surprised to learn that all those pizza delivery drivers, newspaper delivery drivers, etc. who use their own vehicles are also driving around uninsured. Policies have exclusions for that as well.

I have a longstanding and very good relationship with my Nationwide agent so I told her exactly what happened. Without identifying me, she worked for several weeks to determine if I could be covered and what potential ramifications there would be. Bottomline: I could have filed a claim, Nationwide would have paid it, and then there was a 90% plus probability that they would have dropped me. The reason I don't say 100% is simply that I have been with them for 20 years now with multiple vehicles, homeowners, and liability. With only one previous claim (wife had a minor accident about 10 years ago) in that period, I've been an excellent client. My agent said there was a slight possibility she could talk them out of dropping me but it would be a longshot, at best.

I also learned that Nationwide generally handles the pizza and paper delivery situations in the same manner - pay the claim, then drop the policy.

All things considered, I think Nationwide is pretty generous here. They don't have to pay at all and could still drop you after you file the claim. At least they typically pay first before dropping you!

I chose to not file a claim primarily because I didn't want to deal with abtaining another policy after being dropped. If you've been dropped due to a "racing" claim, it will be nearly impossible to get picked up by someone else, and when you do find someone willing to take you, the cost will be sky high. Although the additional costs probably would be less, over time, than what I'm spending in one lump sum now to fix the car it would still amount to significant money and is a serious consideration. The other problem I had to consider was that whatever company I could find to take me, the chances of them accepting the Corvette would have been slim and none given the circumstances. So, all things considered, I just had to bite the bullet and fix the car on my own. After all, I intend to have it a lonng time and for many more autocrosses. This way, as far as insurance is concerned, it never happened and I still only pay about $600 per year to cover it.

Sean hit the nail on the head - never race anything you can't afford to walk away from. Or a more funny way to put it "don't race it if you aren't willing to push it off a cliff! I keep reminding myself how very fortunate I am that I can afford to fix the car. It is pretty shitty having to spend the cash but at least I'm able to do so!

Anyway, it looks like I'm now going to miss the November event too. It's taken longer to get all the parts than we anticipated. When insurance isn't involved, you buy used where possible and safe to do so (like body panels and non-structural stuff) and shop around for the best prices on the stuff that needs to be new! It's looking like I'll just have to start fresh next season instead.

[SentraWV]

There was a thread several years ago on an autocross mailing list where a Boxster owner who spun his car off course into a tree (backwards, IIRC) made a successful insurance claim. It involved serious involvement from SCCA at the national and regional level and a pretty narrow reading of the exclusion.

I know the general reaction to his story was that it wouldn't work with most other carriers. FWIW.

NP: Genesis, "Evidence of Autumn"