jlanka

Steve I spun off the uphill at Lime Rock and impacted the inner tire wall. It was the first incident I had encountered with on track. Damage was minimal and was probably only a few thousand over my deductible. I reported it online and then a woman called me and discussed it with me. One of the things she told me was this info about canceling the policy if I went ahead with the claim. I withdrew the claim and paid it all out of pocket.

Difool

Wow, I used the estimator tool on Hagerty’s site (thanks for the link) and they are not kind to full track builds. If I declare a base car value of $20k and $60k of mods, with 15% deductible, the per event premiums are around $1,200 !!!

if I declare a vehicle value of $80k the per event premiums are much more reasonable, under $500.

Anyone have any direct experience with this? Will they allow for a non-street dedicated-track car to be declared as a base vehicle, rather than one massive wad of upgrades?

docwyte

That would kind of negate the entire point of getting track insurance. If they're not going to cover the damage without cancelling your policy for the rest of the season and then won't re-insure you for a few years, why even bother?

jlanka

Exactly which is why I bailed after the season was over and switched to Lockton. Couldn't understand that policy but luckily they're not the only game in town.

dgrobs

Real chity way to do business and treat your customers. Lose-Lose.
Glad this got brought up here so people know what’s what. Maybe and On Track rep or employee comment on this? Or not....

Thundermoose

Steve113 is owner of OnTrack. He has already commented in this thread.

My experience with Steve has been super positive. I have never had to file a claim so I can't comment on that part, but when I was a novice driver Steve worked with me on dome early events to get me covered.

dgrobs

Not trying to get in a pissing match here. Just would love to see an explanation of why JLanka was treated the way he was.
I didn’t know that S113 owned On Track.
What I do know is how a good friend of mine was treated when it came time to get what he was paying for.
JLanka and I go back a long way, well before either one of us starting tracking Porsches. If that wasn’t the case, maybe I wouldn’t care as much how his claim was handled.
I know that JL is about the most honest and stand up guy I’ve ever known. He paid his premiums promptly and in no way tried to defraud or do anything dishonest when it came time to file his claim.
My comments above were made only to look for an explanation as to why he got screwed when he went to file said claim.
Like I said, I have had nothing but positive experiences with Open Track. I’ve been lucky enough to never had to have filed a claim with them, but from folks I’ve talked to at the track and here on RL, Open Track has paid claims promptly and without hesititation, and have not threatened to drop a paying client when it came time to file a claim.
Seeing as you mentioned that S113 owns the company, maybe he could fully explain why JLanka was treated the way he was.
I’d like to hear an explanation, and maybe that explanation could help fellow Rennlisters make future decisions when it comes time for them to buy track insurance.
Not trying to get in a pissing match, just looking for an explanation. JLanka Is too stand up a guy to ask, so I’ll ask, not for him but for anyone here looking for track insurance.
If OT was my company, I’d gladly refund every penny of premiums that were paid by JL, not that he would ever ask because it’s not his nature to confront, but because a customer of mine got screwed over by the process. Maybe Steve113 didn’t even know what happened and what his company did to JLanka. That could be the case. I don’t know.
I’ll sit back and wait for what On Track insurance has to say as to why JLanka was threatened the way he was threatened and treated the way he was treated when he went to file a claim.
Thanks.

DTMiller

Heavens knows I don't insure my car but I've followed these threads so I can answer the questions I get from students

I've always viewed On Track as catastrophic coverage. Paying not to fix dings and minor bumps but to replace a written off car. Their policy of one and done isn't really a secret and I'm sure their model for pricing justifies their approach. I doubt very much the treatment jlanka experienced was personal in any way.

dgrobs

You don’t insure that ridiculously expensive race car of yours? What?!?!

I would hope that none of the claim was personal. Don’t see that at all. I was also not aware of their one and done policy, but that would explain the response JL got.
Is the policy from On Track that every claim gets handled that way?
If indeed that’s the case, people should know that before they start writing checks for premiums.
Clearly, JLanka did not know that this was the way claims were handled by On Track.
If and when I need to file a claim with Open Track, I would hope that the claim would be handled differently than this claim was.
Thanks for the answer DT. Makes sense....sort of.

mdrums

Interesting thread...thanks for posting real life experience with filing a claim.

hf1

This. If you have the capital, then just run an insurance business with a customer of one: yourself.

victorc31

I also see this as catastrophic coverage. And with the 10% deductible you're in for the first 15k, say on a 150k value. It's a strange business, you pay for it but never want to have to use it. I just don't buy it and drive very cautiously on track.. too many crazies out there

Steve113

Jlanka- If you were not happy with what you were told I wish you had asked to speak with me . If you like please reach out to me directly and we can talk. Our intent was to help you and never hurt you in anyway.

Insurance is the same no matter what its protecting . You hope to never use it ,hate to pay for it but in the event you have a loss you want the best coverage available . I can honestly say I feel ours provides the best coverage available. If you have claim close to deductible on your street car do you put it in ? Its all up to the individual. Do you risk being cancelled, rates increasing or just that strike against you? If you elect not to its not that you were treated unfairly its that you wayed your on options and elected not to .

To protect the program from a few spoiling for the rest we have a policy to look at a claim and with and open mind make determinations. Just have to be careful we aren't insuring somebody that keeps totaling out cars and spoils it for the rest. (I am in no way referring to you) . People don't really understand how many incidents there are . Just think about how many incidents we have all seen or heard about at the track at almost every event. Now multiply that by the number of events every week. It starts adding up to a lot of accidents. Now multiply that by the fact as many insured cars are totaled as are repairable. The loss in dollars start to really add up based on the cost of the individual policy. Our policy does Not Subrogate. So if its somebody else's fault we don't ever go after them .So there is no way to get back part of the loss. (Some of the policies out there can) To me that very dangerous to the sport. Imagine some other insurance company for the other guy now going after you for and incident you had on track and have no coverage for? Imagine a new GT2 on track and crashes with you and now you have there insurance company going after you for that damage. Very scary thought

I have been around auto racing and instructing a long time . Raced everything from open wheel ,factory backed showroom stock, NASCAR, (now race a 996 Cup) Instructed for tons of clubs and privately for individuals. The point is I get what goes on . 99% of the time I can tell what cause the incident and/or what lead up to it. I can reason and have an open mind . I am one of you not some insurance person that has very little clue about what goes on while on track.

But unfortunately its like any business in it has to be profitable to stay around . My program and all the other programs are so important to keeping DE alive and in demand. Choice is always good for everyone.Just think about it if all the programs were not profitable and shut
down by the insurance companies how many people would still track there cars?

If anyone wants to discus any of this further I am more then happy to talk any time
Thanks

Difool

Well, I confirmed with Hagerty, they DO want you to list the value of modifications separate from the base car value, and charge about 4x the premium for the mods vs. the base car. That's both a PITA for listing all the mods and their individual values, for each event, and also makes their product non-competitive for anything but street cars. A $80K track car can pull the same per-event premiums as a $300K street car. Still does seem to be competitive for a street car.

Manifold

The biggest factor in reducing the insurance premiums isn't the insurance companies and the options they offer, but rather reducing the overall crash rate at DEs.

The factors that influence the crash rate are the DE organizations (culture, event format, policies and procedures, etc.), drivers (skills, attitude, behavior, training for emergency procedures, etc.), cars (inspection, track prep, etc.), and tracks (sizes and types of runoff areas, barriers, presence of animals, etc.). We generally have room to improve in all of these areas.

Every time someone ***** up a $100K car, that contributes to the premiums we all pay. I want everyone else to crash less so that my premium goes down, and meanwhile I also try to keep my car from hitting anything.