I think WSIB pulled out f the track day insurance racket some time in the latter half of 2010.

 

Thanks Fooshe! We're still on our original insurer/underwriter. I attribute our success to two primary factors:
- As a DE enthusiast myself, I understand the exposures and have built the program accordingly.
- Lockton Affinity is an insurance program administrator - this is all we do (over 90 insurance programs for a wide variety of groups).

We appreciate your support!

Ryan Staub
Lockton Affinity - http://hpdeinsuranceprogram.com

 

And I'm sure Rennlist would appreciate your support to use a paid user and site sponsor account to promote your products and services.

 

This string has covered just about everything so I may as well add my little story. I had my only and hopefully last ever on track incident at Sebring in February, 2010 with my 2009 C2S. All I had was my State Farm coverage when it happened and figured I'd be coming out of pocket. For those of you that know T17, I skimmed the left side of my car from the left head light all the way to the end of the driver's side door and brought it to a stop with a tire barrier just under the bridge. What I thought was a good recovery and minimal damage given my entry speed ended up being $12,000. Gentlemen, just one head light was $1400 so this stuff adds up really, really quickly. I try not to imagine what the parts on a GT cost.

I called my State Farm agent on Monday morning and told him exactly what happened and where. He told me I was not covered because it was not on a public road but a private race track, etc….but would call HQ (I think they're based out of Illinois) to confirm. He called me back two hours later and said that State Farm would cover me as it was a DE, not a race and was not timed. I can't say enough about how great they were to work with all the way through the repair. Both the repair shop and SF were first class all the way. However, my agent told me that they would not drop me but to consider this a "one time" event given my 20+ year record of never filing a claim. As I'm not a lawyer nor do I have the desire to test the good graces of SF I'm in the same quandry as so many of you should I ever have to deal with this issue again. This year I tried out On Track Insurance. They were good to work with but you never know how good they are until you have an incident, right? For the Four Day PCA 48 Hour Sebring event my total premium was $525, deductible was $5k and the max loss was $100k and they get to keep the car if it's a write-off ($70k or more) so if you have lots of engine work or suspension work on your Baby you might be kissing that bolt on stuff good bye. And yes, when they quoted me I told the owner of the company, Steven Katz, about my incident the year before but given my seat time, instructor credentials, prior history, etc....he activitated the policy 24 hours before the event started without so much as an inspection on my car. I'm still scratching my head wondering if this is good or bad........

I hope this story helps.

 

cbweaver1: I have a similar story with Geico but it took a bunch of prodding and "interviews" by Geico but in the end they paid a very fair amount. My crash was at Watkins Glen. The sad part is that they did raise my rates 3X per my latest renewal bill. I called Allstate and Statefarm. Allstate has a 1X or multiple X forgiveness (immediate) pricing policy (Gold or Platinum options) so I got a very good quote (30% over my old Geico cost). The language in the Allstate policy makes it fairly clear that I am not covered for a DE event. Statefarm offered me slightly higher prices than Allstate but the policy language is clear enough for me that I feel I would be covered at DE.

So what did I do? I actually purchased a High Point Policy for my Porsche as they explicitly cover DE's and purchased a State Farm policy for my other 2 cars. The end result is that I am paying $600 per year more for all three cars but I know I have DE coverage. Lockton coverage was going to cost me $1200 for 9 DE's.

I hope this helps somebody.

 

Who is high point insurance, I found them....not in Florida

 

High Point is a Property and Casualty Insurance Company. Their contact info is www.highpointins.com.
No affiliation.

 

They only write NJ policies. No option for the other 49 states

 

I think that helps. I've heard the same thing, with State Farm and AllState, many times. The only difference is, replace" my 20 years" with "my two cars and home" or "my car and home and five years since my last claim" or just "my good customer record." In each case, an intangible, non-specific excuse, but always an excuse on the first claim and the line drawn to say "this one, but no more."

I can't possibly suggest that "first one on us" will always apply as policy, but it has been a consistent theme with insurers. We know that insurance companies are bloodthirsty reptiles devoid of any sympathy or ethics or moral compass and they will never give up a single dollar they could keep. It's just not how the insurance business profits.

There must be some underlying law combined with some actuarial table that says they make more profit by accepting first time claims than risking disputes and losing customers above some threshold of previous or expected future business.

It's just statistics, it's never about being a "good neighbor" or whatever nonsense goes into their saturation advertising. That oh-so friendly talking lizard would just as soon suck a duck egg dry as pay out a claim.

All that said ... the first rule of insurance is to have coverage for anything you can't afford to lose ... so if you need an extra $50K coverage to take the edge of wadding up your $100K track toy, get track day insurance! If you think that the extra $300/day or whatever is just too steep, you have to rethink driving at the track altogether because the next oil slick, the next power steering fluid or coolant puddle and the next idiot who slams into you before you even get out of the pits is a real risk and anything can happen.

Insurance is just like a lawyer -- everybody hates them ... until they need them. : )

 

Ryan,

Any updates for HPDE coverage for Ohio?

thanks.

 

+1 for Lockton. I originally thought they only covered PCA events, but they in fact cover many HPDE events (link) The online process is easy, and it allows for documenting all or most of your safety and performance modifications.

 

Slightly OT, but Mercury just changed the underwriting on the GT3 and closed any trackday loopholes ...

ka-ching

 

Just got word from an agent that Nationwide in Washington state now excludes racetrack use for any coverage. I used them last year because they were the last mass market insurer that didn't have the racing surface carve out.

 

I have USAA also, but my policy verbage seems to absolutely denie coverage by stating and I quote "An activity that challenges the speed or handling characteristics of a vehicle or improves or demonstrates driving skills,provided the activity occurs on a track or course that is closed from nonparticipants"

I sure don't see much wiggle room in that statement.
This is contained under the heading of : Amendment of Policy Provisions/Definitions.

Perhaps this is unique to my state, but I'd double check if I were you.

Tom B.

 

i have USAA also and am located in MD. they added this amendment july last year. prior to that i was covered (and verified as such with a phone call to an agent/manager before each DE i did). now i go thru lockton since i cant self insure.

c'est la vie.