Event results and Insurance

[bhoss]

Just saw an article on this on Autoblog - second article down

http://www.autoblog.com/

[breakaway500]

Did I mention that insurance companies SUCK?!!

First it's Han(d)-over,then bend over!

I have no use for any of them

Unfortunately,a necessary evil if you live in Ma.

My idea of collision insurance is learning to drive the best I possibly can.

Hmmm...I wonder if I can deduct my entry fees as insurance expenses? HA!

[rajito]

It seems perfectly rational to me that an insurance company won't cover events on a race track, timed or not.

Seriously, what the hell are we trying to do on the track with COM? We're striving to achieve the fastest lap time. Even with non-timed clubs (BMWCCA, etc.) we try to go faster and faster each time, pushing both our and our cars' limits.

I don't see why regular auto insurance has to pay for crashing our cars while intentionally exploring limits. It will be nice if they did, but it doesn't make much sense.

And before someone says that it makes us safer drivers on the street - while that is true, there are plenty of people who have never been on a race track who have perfectly clean records, and vice versa.

Raj

[breakaway500]

Well,the argument is not whether an insured vehicle is covered on track.That would be unreasonable.

What they are refusing to cover are street vehicles that attend track events,PERIOD.

I assume their fears are that someone could possibly damage their insured vehicle on track and then fraudulently claim it happened on a public road.
It is already illegal to file a fraudulent claim,but it looks like they are not going to trust their insured to be honest. They are scum.

[rajito]

Well,the argument is not whether an insured vehicle is covered on track.That would be unreasonable.

What they are refusing to cover are street vehicles that attend track events,PERIOD.

I assume their fears are that someone could possibly damage their insured vehicle on track and then fraudulently claim it happened on a public road.
It is already illegal to file a fraudulent claim,but it looks like they are not going to trust their insured to be honest. They are scum.

I think their fears are justified though. After the pit wall jumped in my path at Tremblant last year, I did get plenty of recommendations to file it as something that happened on a public road, which I did not. However, I am sure others have chosen a different path.

I agree that it is slimy to drop someone just because they do track days with their insured car, but again, from their perspective, it is additional hassle they don't want to deal with, should a claim be filed with the insured car.

For what it's worth, Liberty Mutual did not do this to me.

Raj

[boltonite]

Car Insurance May Not Cover You at the Track

By ROY FURCHGOTT
Published: October 17, 2008

IT’S no secret that insurance companies don’t like the people they cover to drive fast. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the industry has been removing a policy loophole that insured drivers on racetracks.

That has left weekend warriors uninsured if they participate in track days or attend high-performance driving schools. Jerry Kunzman, executive director of the National Auto Sport Association, said that participation at its track events had jumped fivefold since 2003 and that many of those drivers had no idea they were not covered.

“Maybe 25 or 30 percent have done the research, the middle third just assumes they are covered, and the top third just don’t have a clue,â€

[paultg]

Wow, interesting article. Thanks for posting.

My company did renew my policy. I am shopping around now; going to keep my mouth shut about these events; and if I do choose to participate in the future I will be sure the event results are not available to the public; and no info is posted online by me.

I already bought the cheap throw away car; I would never try to make a claim for an incident that occurred while participating at an event; therefore I see no reason for a company to use the information against me and deny me as a customer. In my opinion it is a form of discrimination; innocent until proven guilty... I guess not.

Paul G.

[jlwhorf]

Wow, interesting article. Thanks for posting.

My company did renew my policy. I am shopping around now; going to keep my mouth shut about these events; and if I do choose to participate in the future I will be sure the event results are not available to the public; and no info is posted online by me.

I already bought the cheap throw away car; I would never try to make a claim for an incident that occurred while participating at an event; therefore I see no reason for a company to use the information against me and deny me as a customer. In my opinion it is a form of discrimination; innocent until proven guilty... I guess not.

Paul G.

When I used a registered street pounder as a track car, i did not carry any insurance on it, but I did tow it to the track.

Jonathan

[StephanAlfa]

Wow, interesting article. Thanks for posting.
My company did renew my policy. I am shopping around now; going to keep my mouth shut about these events; and if I do choose to participate in the future I will be sure the event results are not available to the public; and no info is posted online by me.
I already bought the cheap throw away car; I would never try to make a claim for an incident that occurred while participating at an event; therefore I see no reason for a company to use the information against me and deny me as a customer. In my opinion it is a form of discrimination; innocent until proven guilty... I guess not.
Paul G.

When I used a registered street pounder as a track car, i did not carry any insurance on it, but I did tow it to the track.
Jonathan

I wonder if it would be prudent to have two separate policies form different companies... this way one will cover track events and the other you normal daily driving...

[jlwhorf]

Wow, interesting article. Thanks for posting.
My company did renew my policy. I am shopping around now; going to keep my mouth shut about these events; and if I do choose to participate in the future I will be sure the event results are not available to the public; and no info is posted online by me.
I already bought the cheap throw away car; I would never try to make a claim for an incident that occurred while participating at an event; therefore I see no reason for a company to use the information against me and deny me as a customer. In my opinion it is a form of discrimination; innocent until proven guilty... I guess not.
Paul G.

When I used a registered street pounder as a track car, i did not carry any insurance on it, but I did tow it to the track.
Jonathan

I wonder if it would be prudent to have two separate policies form different companies... this way one will cover track events and the other you normal daily driving...

Race tracks are for race cars. Anyone who takes their car on a race track should be financially and mentally prepared to lose that car, without expecting compensation (i.e. insurance coverage).

Why do you think that I keep on puttzing with a purpose built race car?

Jonathan

[chaos4NH]

Wow, interesting article. Thanks for posting.

My company did renew my policy. I am shopping around now; going to keep my mouth shut about these events; and if I do choose to participate in the future I will be sure the event results are not available to the public; and no info is posted online by me.

I already bought the cheap throw away car; I would never try to make a claim for an incident that occurred while participating at an event; therefore I see no reason for a company to use the information against me and deny me as a customer. In my opinion it is a form of discrimination; innocent until proven guilty... I guess not.

Paul G.

Paul, the BOD kicked this around for a bit, and it was brought to our attention that nearly every organization posts their results on a public available web site or forum.
I do not see how you are going to avoid that.

[breakaway500]

Maybe he could attend under an assumed name?

Steve Mcqueen used to compete under the name Harvey Mushman as the studio contract prohibited him from entering "competition" events.

[chaos4NH]

Maybe he could attend under an assumed name?

Steve Mcqueen used to compete under the name Harvey Mushman as the studio contract prohibited him from entering "competition" events.

Catch 22, our insurance would probably not be happy about that.

[jlwhorf]

Wow, interesting article. Thanks for posting.

My company did renew my policy. I am shopping around now; going to keep my mouth shut about these events; and if I do choose to participate in the future I will be sure the event results are not available to the public; and no info is posted online by me.

I already bought the cheap throw away car; I would never try to make a claim for an incident that occurred while participating at an event; therefore I see no reason for a company to use the information against me and deny me as a customer. In my opinion it is a form of discrimination; innocent until proven guilty... I guess not.

Paul G.

Paul, the BOD kicked this around for a bit, and it was brought to our attention that nearly every organization posts their results on a public available web site or forum.
I do not see how you are going to avoid that.

Or just not participate in the time trial.

Jonathan

[mossaidis]

Race tracks are for race cars. Anyone who takes their car on a race track should be financially and mentally prepared to lose that car, without expecting compensation (i.e. insurance coverage).

Why do you think that I keep on puttzing with a purpose built race car?

Jonathan

As I was told by first COM instructor, Chris, at MT: "If you're not ready to push your car off a cliff, you should NOT be taking it to the track." That may be an oversimplifcation, yet folks that have been in this business long enough know that there are crazies out there - those that are having an "off" day and still choose to push it 9/10ths OR others that *think* they can do the impossible.