Mikelly

Makes buying a cheap track car much more appealing...

Mike

BobbyC

Well since you asked...

I currently have a track insurance policy issued by Snellings Walters. Stated value. 3% premium (and a good sized deductible). Unlimited number of DE days. If the car is damaged while on the track, it supposedly is covered. I say "supposedly" simply because one doesn't know 100% until after a claim is filed. Now, there are no limitations vis a vis # of days on track; whether one was signed off by an instructor or not; whether the damage was caused by a tire blowout or a deer running across the track or being shunted; or even if the damage occurred while an instructor was behind the wheel. What you're selling is "pay us the premium, and we hope we've covered every possible angle thru which your car could hit a wall...tire or armco, no difference".

Pray tell why your policy is so good.

Anna McM

Hi Bobby -
I'm sorry - I should have provided a little history behind our product and how it came about.

I would imagine that your policy is written by Great Lakes and underwritten by SIU (Southern Insurance Underwriters), and sold to you by Snellings Walters. I am familiar with all three of these organizations, and they are all very reputable shops.

This policy form was discontinued because of adverse experience. The carrier was paying for claims that went way beyond the scope of their intent, and the claims were much larger than the premiums they collected. In other words, they were losing their shirts.

They pulled the product, and redesigned it, putting in exclusions for things like racing, driving without an instructor, etc. They recently started offering it again, but rather than marketing it thru Snellings Walters, they are marketing it thru our agency, Liability Underwriters.

I honestly don't know if you will receive a renewal offer from Snellings Walters or not. But I do know that if you do, it will be for the same policy with the same exclusions that I am offering. The policy you have now, unfortunately, will not be available to you after its expiration.

As I stated, I am not sure if Snellings Walters has decided to offer renewal quotes to their existing clients or not. But if they don't, I would be happy to help you.

Again, sorry I didn't clarify that from the beginning.
Anna

Anna McM

Hi Patrick - The way we are addressing instructors is on an individual basis. We want to underwrite those individually. If you have a clean street MVR, no on-track accidents within the past year, and your car isn't extremely modified or has a mega-high value, we should be able to accommodate you. The best thing to do there is send us the completed application and we can take it from there.

If everything works okay, we would issue the policy, and attach an endorsement voiding the requirement that an instructor be in the vehicle or sign off for coverage to apply.

Hope this helps! If I can be of any assistance, please let me know. I would be happy to email an application to you.

Thanks,
Anna

mjb

Not clear on the basis used if the car is totaled and unrepairable. I assume stated value is what I say the car is worth. What is the "actual cash value"?

Also, will I be covered for a DE event organized by any reputable group (i.e. one providing corner workers, emergency services, clear passing rules, etc.), or is that restricted in some way?

TIA

Anna McM

Typically, the 'actual cash value' would be defined as the replacement cost, less depreciation. However, this definition can vary from state to state, depending on whether your state legislature has created a law to amend it.

The term "sanctioned" is defined in the coverage form as being "a driving club event utilizing corner observers.", which is really pretty broad.

Thanks,
Anna

MUSSBERGER

Frank, If you lived for reading these things instead of "read these things for a living" that would be disturbing.

I own a dedicated track car which I don't insure but I still would like to take my 997 to the track once or twice a year and I am comfortable with the language in the policy.

BTW
I rent equipment and there is nothing that sends shivers down my spine more than renting a chain saw to a homeowner.

Cheers

Gary R.

Sounds like if I wreck my 78 911SC I would owe YOU money!

MUSSBERGER

smsarchitects

The instructor sign-off exclusion in this case breaks down to this:
Are instructors/chief instructors willing to "sign off" each previously promoted driver (PCA White or Black) for each event ?

mussberger: lol.....I keep imagining this scene of handing the chain saw over the counter and looking into his/her eyes.............

BobbyC

Does anyone have experience with these folks? Their DE policies, premiums and claims experience? Thanks...

http://www.wsibinsurance.com/

aben8057

BTW...dont let your friends drive your car's unless an exemption is made in the contract.

http://www.sportscarmarket.com/articles/archives/1409

CBnAT

This thread is making my head spin. I emailed my Ins. company and I was told that as long as no racing was involved I am covered (even if I am on a "track"). I am keeping that email and will ask the same question each year.

That being said I will do very few DE's and if I were more serios about it I would probably opt for additional coverage specifically for the track. Better safe than sorry I guess.

George3

Since starting this thread, I too have been following the Track Insurance threads on various boards and I'm really concerned about how comprehensive the coverages will be this year. It seems the insurance companies had to pay out a lot of claims and the policies did not prove to be as profitable as they orginially projected.

The option the insurance companies had was to either: a) Raise the premiums in order to better cover their losses, or, b) Maintain the same policy premium, but decrease the effective coverage to the insured by adding more exclusions to the policy and increasing the deductibles.

The latter is the choice I believe many of them will follow for several reasons. By raising the premiums too high they will lose a significant amount of customers who will eventually decide to become self insured.

So, by adding more exclusions to their policy and maintaining a level premium amount, they can add confusing and vague legal techno-babble language to the policy that few track enthusiats can fully understand. This will serve to better limit the insurance companies risk exposure and would also enable them more "discretion" of coverage.

Bottom line: The coverages effectively would not be the same as in previous past policies.

Looking at the realities, there is a higher probability of having an off, or worse, in wet weather conditions than in dry conditions. To better manage the risk, some drivers may elect to limit their track time in wet weather conditions, or procure a significantly less costly wet weather track vehicle. So, if the lesser car had an incident the losses would be sustainable.

This not to say an incident cannot occur in dry conditions, but it is only one part of this complicated decision-making equation.

The jury is still out whether I pull the trigger on track insurance this year, or not. Last year for me it was a no-brainer to do so, however, the rules of the game have changed.

I believe it would serve the better interests of the Rennlist community to have the more qualified members assist with identifying the legal loopholes written into the upcoming new generation of track insurance policies.

Phokaioglaukos

George, the policies are not great literature, but they are written in pretty straightforward English. Get the WSIB and SIU policies (are there any others available?) and see what fits better with your plans and pocketbook. My Snelling-Walters policy expires in May so I'll be doing the same thing shortly. Once I figure out what I'm doing, I'll post a message with my analysis, but everyone has somewhat different interests. (It helps that my State Farm PA policy excludes anything that happens on the track so "sharing" provision of the SIU policy is not an issue for me. For those in other states with street policies that do not exclude DE, that would be a big issue.)