Definitely a valid point. Depending on the value of your car, the breakeven from a strictly cost perspective will differ.

I talk about 6-8 events not because it's a pure breakeven on cost, but there is a value discussion to be had. With our Annual program, you'd have a 5% deductible vs. 10% on the event policies. That means you'd personally save $3,000-$4,000 (assuming your vehicle value) out-of-pocket in the event of a claim.

Also, the Drive Better program is included for free as an Annual customer. So you get a ton of valuable coaching throughout the year for no additional cost. The private coaching time w/ Andy is worth hundreds of dollars minimum.

Lastly, with the Annual you add days/events on-track with no additional insurance cost, hence Drive More. The more you drive on-track, the more valuable the program becomes.

So I hear you that from a pure cost perspective, 6-8 events might not be breakeven... but from an overall value perspective, especially in the event you have a claim, you might actually make out ahead.

Thanks,
BP

 

Wow. I guess I have always placed more of the likelihood of claims on the greatest variable, that being the driver. Most of these folks show signs well before the "bang."

I tend to see more incidents among intermediate/advanced/instructor level drivers that have enough time at a particular circuit to become complacent...

Would love to compare notes sometime. Especially the claims-per-lap delta since March 2020.

Also, if these are the tracks that you have the most call for cover individually. Proportionately more exposure, hence the claims rate.

I applaud your efforts with Andy and helping supply good resources for your clients. That's always good and a good investment for both provider and client. But, they have to be committed to listening...

Cheers, Peter

 

As a first time track insurance purchaser in 2021, I went with OpenTrack after running the numbers. It absolutely made sense for 10-12 weekends when comparing single weekend versus annual policy with all applicable discounts. Plus, added benefit of lower deductible if something was to go wrong. I just recently recognized the true benefit of virtual coaching with Andy included with the annual policy. I was pleased how informative and well the sessions go virtually (and not costing added ~$250/hr rate).

 

I use OpenTrack for 1 day events , since they offer the lower rate vs all the others.

NJMP , The Glen and VIR are all on my list this year , though if I am going to travel I may as well do 2 days.

EDIT: Just ran some quick quotes and Open Track is really more for the annual program now .

 

Hey Peter,
Let's find a time to connect. Shoot me an email directly and we will find a time to chat.

bp@opentrack.com

Thanks,
BP

 

Hey Everyone,

One quick exception here... if you participate in a Hooked on Driving event at one of these five tracks, you can still purchase coverage through the HoD registration (on HoD's website). You won't be able to purchase coverage through OpenTrack.com, but as you're registering for an HoD day, you'll be given the option of adding OpenTrack coverage, which you can do.

Thanks,
BP

 

You might want to double check your annual quote, the open track application automatically checks off liability coverage. If you don't need that, its a good chunk of savings, maybe gets you closer to the 6-8 breakeven point.

 

I'm not following your math here (which should surprise nobody who knows how dumb I can be), but being an annual policy client with Open Track for a lot of years now, there is no other insurer who gives me more value for my insurance dollar.

If you are doing that many days, how do you not have an annual policy?

You say you need to do 11 events to just break even with Open Track, that doesn't make sense to me.

11 events could be 33 days. How are you coming up with "break even" at that number of days? Are you insuring a 981 or a 918? I can't follow your math here, not at all.

There may also be a little misunderstanding here by me as I am not sure if you are referring to 6 to 8 days or 6 to 8 events.

8 days is 8 days. 8 events can be up to 24 days...

11 days is 11 days. 11 events could be up to 33 days.

Again, this is their annual policy I have, with the Canada Rider (which was a waste the last couple years as we couldn't get to Canada the last couple of years), and for 2 cars.
This is what I insure with Ben and Open Track, and even though I am not crashing my cars on a regular basis, knowing that those guys are in my corner puts me at ease.
I don't take any more unnecessary risks because I am insured for the track but having that policy with Open Track is really good thing for me.

I am just not following your math here. Of course, that could be my own stoopidity, which tends to come shining through more and more as I get older....

 

981 GT4, some basic track mods (cage,wheels etc) insured at $90k. Never had an accident on track or made a claim.

Insurance is done by event, doesn't matter how many days. For example a 3 day weekend with NASA costs the same to insure as a one day with Jeffapalooza.

11 events would be 33 days assuming I did full weekends, that's just to break even. This year I spent about $3.5k on track insurance for 18 days, roughly one event per month in NE track season. I also did a few single dayers thrown in.

Whatever way you slice it, paying for yearly doesn't make sense unless you are tracking a huge amount (for my car at least).

 

@rnh204 was exactly right above… our Annual quote automatically includes $1M of liability coverage, which is optional and can be removed later in the quote process. The $5,400 you saw includes full coverage on the car at $90K + $1M liability coverage.

If you drop the liability, your all-in for the year is about $4,300. Deductible on the GT4 would be just $4,500 (vs. $9K on event policies), and you gain access to all of Drive Better.

Appreciate the dialogue today everyone. Really great stuff. Here if anyone has more questions.

BP

 

In full disclosure, my HPDE experience the last few years was always with track rats (say $10k value) that I didn't feel the urge to insure.

One thing about HPDE coverage that I've always wondered about. Do you factor in the HPDE organization in your assessment of risk? I can understand that based upon the historical analysis of tracks, you can make a determination of which tracks present you with a higher risk. But do you do the same with the organization? From my perspective, having done HPDEs with a number of groups in the SE, there is a huge range of considered "acceptable behavior" by the various groups. Some that are instructional in nature, where contact I would say is very unusual, to others that it's not a matter of if a car is going to get written off each weekend but just how many. Obviously, none have a written policy that approves of contact, but written policy and culture are two distinct things.

 

8 events was my break even, exchanged emails with Brett, and likely to do the annual for 2022 season (specially since VIR is on my planned list).
Like you said, being insured doesn't mean additional risks, but the peace of mind that IF something goes wrong, you have someone in your corner. To be completely honest, I take out the policy more so to protect myself against others having issues or mishaps and me being collateral damage.

 

Yessir.......

 

I have been an Open Track yearly policy holder for a couple of years now, In my case the decision to exclude tracks from the single event offerings does not apply and should not apply to anyone who hits the track often and wants to have the coverage safety net. I almost feel like this should not be mentioned (Ben - don't raise my rates!) but I think that they offer a great deal with the yearly policy as long as you can make the amount of events needed to break even, for me this works out to about 8-9 separate events. The added bonus having a 5% deductible vs a 10% for non yearly policies and the fact that you can add a secondary driver as well as additional vehicles for very little extra premium really seal the deal for me. I also love that I don't have to make any arrangements prior to an event. This frees me up to make the decision to attend one day events on the fly without having to spend the time getting coverage. It also expands my track season it is easier to justify those early April and November events in the NE if I know that the cost of insurance is already amortized in the premium.

 

Another perk is that you can add a 2nd car to the policy for a minimal additional premium., which comes in handy for folks that have more than 1 track car. Of course, this is based on the fact that you can only drive 1 car at a time,,...lol.

I have had this annual policy for a while now and it always seems to me that it's a great deal and offers a lot of peace of mind.

I don't plan to wreck either of my track cars, but it's good to know that if I do, it's there.

Yes, paying that premium is a bit rough, but once it renews, I know I have nothing to worry about (insurance wise) for another 365 days.

I like Open Track a lot, and their annual policy is awesome, for me anyway, and they're super easy to deal with. I have dealt with Ben directly via email and phone, and he's been nothing but professional, courteous respectful, and incredibly helpful.

Highly recommend the annual with them if you do enough days.