Insurance - pants pulled down?
Discussion
I'm looking at doing my first track day soon at Bedford, an open pitlane event. I've had a quote from moris.co.uk for one day's insurance, and it came out at £346 with a £3k excess. From reading this forum I thought it would be closer to half that. 
Are they pulling my pants down? I'm 24, car is an M3 (2007) with insured value of £50k.
Are they pulling my pants down? I'm 24, car is an M3 (2007) with insured value of £50k.
If you're trying to cover the total cost of the car, then it will cost an arm & a leg.
You only need to cover the amount you think you'll require in the event of an accident - do you think you'll do £50k of damage in a fender-bender/light contact with tyres?
Maybe for your first event you want to play safe, and then see what everyone else does. I've done about 60 events and only ever had insurance for 2 (both 'magazine' days) - the properly organised ones should be much safer and then it's only down to you doing something silly that will mean an accident. I'm also not sure where insurance stands if your accident is caused by an underlying fault on the car, plus they don't tend to pay for engine damage if you blow it up.
It might be cheaper all round to hire a Caterham for the day.
You only need to cover the amount you think you'll require in the event of an accident - do you think you'll do £50k of damage in a fender-bender/light contact with tyres?
Maybe for your first event you want to play safe, and then see what everyone else does. I've done about 60 events and only ever had insurance for 2 (both 'magazine' days) - the properly organised ones should be much safer and then it's only down to you doing something silly that will mean an accident. I'm also not sure where insurance stands if your accident is caused by an underlying fault on the car, plus they don't tend to pay for engine damage if you blow it up.
It might be cheaper all round to hire a Caterham for the day.
mmm-five said:
If you're trying to cover the total cost of the car, then it will cost an arm & a leg.
You only need to cover the amount you think you'll require in the event of an accident - do you think you'll do £50k of damage in a fender-bender/light contact with tyres?
I'm a bit of a novice at this as I'm showing. You only need to cover the amount you think you'll require in the event of an accident - do you think you'll do £50k of damage in a fender-bender/light contact with tyres?
I am really getting the insurance in case there is an on-track incident with someone who has a mega-expensive Bugatti etc, and it is deemed to be my fault. I don't mind "self-insuring" to cover the damage I may do to my car. I'm just after third party cover really.What happens if I crash into someone or vice versa?
edb49 said:
What happens if I crash into someone or vice versa?
I thought you just payed for your own damage??Although I'm a novice at trackdays as well (will hopefully do one next year, once I pass my driving test muhahaha
), but thats what I thought, so don't quote me.Just when we have a smah up in racing (karting) you pay for your own damage, even if it's not your fault, unless someone's feeling very generous.
Edited by intrepid44 on Tuesday 11th December 21:00
I would think carefully about insurance for bedford it dose have great run of areas
and is one of the most "spin" friendly circuits in the uk.
if you want it get it...... but on the other hand it is a great place and if you do go off
chance is that you will be met by a grass run off but each to there own .
and is one of the most "spin" friendly circuits in the uk.
if you want it get it...... but on the other hand it is a great place and if you do go off
chance is that you will be met by a grass run off but each to there own .
anonymous said:
[redacted]
and i would get it if it was that cheap ( im not cheap ) ive always been quoted about £180 for £20k which is about 50%
of the build cost of the Mg so i have just drove carefully & Prayed
I suspect your friend had his cover as part of road insurance.
Regarding 3rd party cover, it doesn't exist. You insure yourself. You hope that the track day rules apply in your favour to rule out a 3rd party claim against you. Some do and some only protect the TDO and track owners.
I long since decided to only track a car that I could afford to lose and don't bother to insure.
Bert
Regarding 3rd party cover, it doesn't exist. You insure yourself. You hope that the track day rules apply in your favour to rule out a 3rd party claim against you. Some do and some only protect the TDO and track owners.
I long since decided to only track a car that I could afford to lose and don't bother to insure.
Bert
What about hiring an instructor for the day. They'll do a great job of getting you up to speed, but will help address any issues that may result in you damaging your pride and joy. It'll be cheaper than insuring your car and you'll get more out of the day.
If you give other drivers plenty of space, and drive within your own limits, the risk of damaging your car is low, particularly at somewhere like Bedford.
If you give other drivers plenty of space, and drive within your own limits, the risk of damaging your car is low, particularly at somewhere like Bedford.
You don't have to hire an instructor for the whole day - expensive. They can be hired for about £20 for 20 minutes. Instruction is never a waste of money though, even if you have some experience.
Back to insurance, the only time I have had insurance on a track day was at Spa this year - £200 per day with Heritage, who also insured the car on the road (value £38,000). The only reason I insured on that occasion was to ensure the car would be transported back to the UK if it became undrivable due to an accident. Didn't have to claim fortunately! Most track days are well run and incidents resulting in damage to the cars are few. People do spin and end up in the gravel, however, but get recovered and carry on. Bedford is one of the safest tracks IMO.
Chris
Back to insurance, the only time I have had insurance on a track day was at Spa this year - £200 per day with Heritage, who also insured the car on the road (value £38,000). The only reason I insured on that occasion was to ensure the car would be transported back to the UK if it became undrivable due to an accident. Didn't have to claim fortunately! Most track days are well run and incidents resulting in damage to the cars are few. People do spin and end up in the gravel, however, but get recovered and carry on. Bedford is one of the safest tracks IMO.
Chris
Your insurance won't cover you for damaging someone elses car. Just insure a couple of corners worth. It's enough to give a little peace of mind but should ensure you retain the "financial lift"
Melindi
www.goldtrack.co.uk
Melindi
www.goldtrack.co.uk
Isn't the point of trackday insurance to cover your own car, even if you have an off or someone else takes you out by accident.
Therefore covering all aspects. And if you get taken out by someone else by accident, and you arn't insured, then isn't it tough titty.
Or have I got it wrong
Therefore covering all aspects. And if you get taken out by someone else by accident, and you arn't insured, then isn't it tough titty.
Or have I got it wrong
If there are tössers obviously taking the p!ss and the track day organiser does nothing once they are informed of the situation, then the track day company could be liable in the event of an incident involving one of these tössers.
Most of the track day companies are quite strict on driver behaviour and will give them a warning that they've used their last chance and will be sent home if they continue 'discourteous' driving - or sometimes it's just drivers who overcook the same corner time after time and waste every one else's time whilst they're being recovered.
Most of the track day companies are quite strict on driver behaviour and will give them a warning that they've used their last chance and will be sent home if they continue 'discourteous' driving - or sometimes it's just drivers who overcook the same corner time after time and waste every one else's time whilst they're being recovered.
At most track days I have done covering a 20 year period a car or two gets damaged - mostly it is not that serious but repairing a modern car with manufacturer bits is expensive even for a fairly typical barrier/car incident. Engines going pop are fairly regular sights especially when they have been chipped.
Considering the risks insurance for track days seems quick good value - but it is normally limited to a max of say £10k with a big excess say £2 or £3k try www.moris.co.uk
You will find that most quick road cars are not very impressive on a track when compared with something more specialised like a caterham/westfield/atom/crossle/radical etc. Plus it is very easy to wear out a set of tyres on a heavy road car plus knacker the brakes eg crack the discs etc.
Personally I have never found that it makes economic sense to insure a car for track days (although i have insured race cars when they belonged to other people)if you are worried about it then you can always hire a caterham from someone like Bookatrack as I think you are only liable for a certain amount if you crash it. The other alternative is to buy (maybe with a friend) a cheap track day/race car like a Peugeot 205GTI etc you can get something like that for about £2k which has the advantage that once you have convinced yourself that you are the quickest driver on the planet you can go racing in something like the tin tops series (google for classic sports car club) - have fun
Considering the risks insurance for track days seems quick good value - but it is normally limited to a max of say £10k with a big excess say £2 or £3k try www.moris.co.uk
You will find that most quick road cars are not very impressive on a track when compared with something more specialised like a caterham/westfield/atom/crossle/radical etc. Plus it is very easy to wear out a set of tyres on a heavy road car plus knacker the brakes eg crack the discs etc.
Personally I have never found that it makes economic sense to insure a car for track days (although i have insured race cars when they belonged to other people)if you are worried about it then you can always hire a caterham from someone like Bookatrack as I think you are only liable for a certain amount if you crash it. The other alternative is to buy (maybe with a friend) a cheap track day/race car like a Peugeot 205GTI etc you can get something like that for about £2k which has the advantage that once you have convinced yourself that you are the quickest driver on the planet you can go racing in something like the tin tops series (google for classic sports car club) - have fun
I think you are very wise to insure your car for your first track day, accidents do happen, even at Bedford and the cost of repairing your car can be a lot more than you might imagine, for a new M3 you could easily find £20k being needed to fix broken body work, although you probably don't need £50k of cover.
If you are going to do this on a regular basis you really want to get track cover as part of your road policy, this will usually provide full third party coverjust as you would have on the road. These one day tack policies do not offer any third party cover nor will they cover your engine if you miss a down change and severely over rev it.
You will need to find a specialist broker for BMW insurance, I'm sure there are several out there, its the only way to obtain reasonably priced track insurance.
Richard.
If you are going to do this on a regular basis you really want to get track cover as part of your road policy, this will usually provide full third party coverjust as you would have on the road. These one day tack policies do not offer any third party cover nor will they cover your engine if you miss a down change and severely over rev it.
You will need to find a specialist broker for BMW insurance, I'm sure there are several out there, its the only way to obtain reasonably priced track insurance.
Richard.
edb49 said:
I'm looking at doing my first track day soon at Bedford, an open pitlane event. I've had a quote from moris.co.uk for one day's insurance, and it came out at £346 with a £3k excess. From reading this forum I thought it would be closer to half that.
Are they pulling my pants down? I'm 24, car is an M3 (2007) with insured value of £50k.
If you were to come to me and say "if I give you £350 will you give me £50,000 if I crash my car driving it too fast for the first time on track" - I'd tell you where to stick it Are they pulling my pants down? I'm 24, car is an M3 (2007) with insured value of £50k.
There are some brave underwriters in this country!
Bedford is relatively safe but I've still seen a spinner finish literally inches of the armco and know of a friend who's car was hit by a spinner while he sat in the pit lane waiting to go out on track - he wasn't even moving! I do believe however that they've now changed the pit exit layout.
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