DES GTS

I was there on July 14th and today (July 21st). I assume you were there on July 20th.

I heard there was a hairy incident yesterday on the Andretti Straight where someone had a mechanical problem and stopped their car in the middle of the track instead of pulling off to the side. Disaster was narrowly averted.

DES GTS

They do cover Canadian drivers in Canadian cars and are incredibly responsive by email and phone.

wizee

Does this company still exist? The web site seems dead and I don’t see many references to them remaining online. Any other (still existing) Canadian providers of insurance for track days?

Any Canadians with experience dealing with OpenTrack? While they mention providing coverage for Canadian tracks, their web site seems focused on US customers (who may occasionally visit Canadian tracks).

SToronto

Track day insurance site and business is dead for now. They pulled out of the biz. Stone ridge was also not offering anything this year and part last year. Open Track also stopped insuring Canadians with Canadian addresses last year.

All due to COVID and losses vs revenue.

Open Track is great! Hoping they come back.

wizee

That sucks. Sounds like there are no current options for track insurance in Canada. I’m hesitant to track a six figure car without track insurance. If something happened on track, even if my street insurance does end up covering a DE day (since it’s not racing), my insurer would likely drop me, and facility insurance is ridiculously priced.

SToronto

No, you'll have to wait until the Spring to determine the landscape at that time. I would imagine if things are back to normal enough where track days can be scheduled in full without worry of cancellation the sport should come back, in Canada. Hopefully that'll spur providers to offer insurance again. Hagerty launched a program in the US, there were talks of offering in Canada as well. But I suspect the market this year just wasn't there, especially to launch a new product.

I've heard that some insurers now ask that you sign a waiver that the car will not be used on a track. Doesn't matter what you are doing.

moab

Correct, Chubb makes you sign a waiver, which covers DE. If you have not been asked to sign a specific "track" exclusion, you should be ok if you are participating a DE. Look at my avatar and ask me how I know...

bcrdukes

I tried to inquire about switching my Boxster over to Hagerty and inquired whether I could go to the occassional DE days, and the rep said if they had knowledge of you taking the car to the track or just you telling them about it, they will deny coverage. I backed away from pursuing any further. This was about a month and a bit ago.

wizee

I had TD (my current insurer) verbally say the same thing on the phone, though I don't have a specific track exclusion on my policy, just the usual no racing verbiage. I don't know of any insurers who will openly say they won't drop you if you ever drive your car on track, never mind covering damage on track. The current insurance situation in Ontario for those who track their cars is terrible.

Christien

Technically they can't deny you coverage if there's no track exclusion in the policy (Ont. supreme court case about it several years ago saying in the absence of timing, competition, prizes etc they have to pay). What they say on the phone isn't in the contract, so it has no weight in court. But it'll be a nightmare getting it paid out and obviously you'll never get insurance from them again. IMO making a claim at the track would only be worth it if you totalled the car.

bcrdukes

This is where I'm a bit confused on it. There is a Rennlister on the forum who got into an accident during a track day out in Quebec (you guys can put the two and two together) and managed to get his insurance to pay out but it was an orchestration of things among various insurance providers.

SToronto

That's just it, I have heard payout stories. It's not a walk in the park. It's an uphill battle.

As the other poster said, you could obtain a payout where there is no specific clause to not payout but they will drop you as a client. Now given that vehicle insurance is a legal requirement, perhaps the government should regulate them discontinuing coverage after a big payout. There should probably be outs for the insurer in that scenario, like repeat big claims etc.

Your other option is to get a US address and just use Open Track. Be covered and don't worry. This being said I don't believe Open Track offers health coverage etc.

moab

This is correct. When I had my incident at a DE event, I did a considerable amount of reserch on the topic. I called my insurer at the time, i.e., Aviva and was completely transparent as to what happended. I had never signed a track exclusion and the interpretation of the exclusion in most policies is limited to timed events. I read the Ontario decision a few years ago. A DE never times your laps, for good reason. If you have not been required to sign a track exclusion, then you basically have one bullet to use so use it wisely... My incident was a complete write-off of the car and I received full payment (i.e., $160K + because of waiver of depreciation) with very little hassle and within 1-2 months of making the claim. Aviva did not drop me but I ended up deciding to go with Chubb and they made me sign a track exclusion as soon as I went with them so now I am forced to self-insure at the track which means I drive like a grandmother. As I said, you have ONE bullet, so save it for a big *** claim, lol.

SToronto

Go buy that GT2RS and have at it.

SToronto

This is why consideration should be given to snapping up a 718 Cayman S used (when the market cools) and then do some mods. If you don't want to insure for track and are worried about a potential claim on that $200K+ car.