Disappointed with REIS insurance re Wishes 4 Kids Donington

[GT3 APE]

Was looking forward to supporting Wishes 4 Kids charity ( http://www.wishes4kids.co.uk/ ), at a dedicated Donington event this Friday, where they anticipate more than 250 children attending and 40 cars! I was one of the 40, offering to take kids & family for rides in my car (GT3). Having friends who have done similar events in the past , they advised insurance companies would usually support cause with no additional charges to policy etc.

So filled with hope I sent an email to my insurer, REIS, asking if they could do similar. Imagine my disappointment when they declined to cover me for the event on the basis "Unfortunately we will have to decline offering track cover for the day, due to the potential passenger liabilities and the value of the car.".

When I pointed out it wasn't actually on the track & a much more relaxed affair I still had "I'm sorry, I really wish I could say yes but it is still private land and the liablity aspect of passenger cover still applies"

How sad is the world these days, when corporate companies can't support a day out for children, some of whom are terminally ill. What real risk is there of a driver causing an accident with such a precious passenger onboard !!

Yours peeved,

Dave

Edited by GT3 APE on Monday 25th July 17:02

Edited by GT3 APE on Monday 25th July 17:03

[johnpeat]

Realistically, instead of seeking the cover personally - surely a better approach would have been for the event organisers to get an insurer onboard to give umbrella cover to all the cars in return for max. publicity at the time???

Insurers probably aren't geared-up to have customers ringing them ad-hoc and asking for this stuff - esp as it's a fairly specialised risk - and so the replies you get will vary as you've discovered??

You are, of course, free to pursue cover from alternate insurers yourself as your 'road' insurer has made it clear it's nothing to do with them at all?

Do the organisers require you to provide personal liability insurance anyway or could you run without it, under their event cover??

Talked to the other drivers/the organisers to see what they're doing??

Edited by johnpeat on Monday 25th July 17:10

[frosted]

Yes it's a sad , however when stuff does go wrong everyone wants a pay out . Tbh I would have thought that whoever organised this day would have found a suitable insurer for this event , rather confused that they didn't

[Pwig]

frosted said:

Yes it's a sad , however when stuff does go wrong everyone wants a pay out . Tbh I would have thought that whoever organised this day would have found a suitable insurer for this event , rather confused that they didn't

Agreed.

[insurance_jon]

To be fair you can't blame the broker, I'm sure if they could they would, but it is more likely your actual insurer would won't have the reinsurance in place to cover it. It's a lot more complicated than just saying, yes.

However there is is an insurance broker, who is also a PHer, Jeremy pace from pace ward insurance brokers, who does have a track day scheme. It could be worth giving him a shout.

[Mattt]

Manning also have a track day scheme on their specialist vehicle policies - but as said above some events like this can fall into a grey area.