Track day insurance available at circuit - would you buy it?

[A.Wang]

I was having a chat with a friend (and fellow PHer) over lunch, and the topic of track day insurance came up. This year, I have taken out specialist first-party (as there is no 3rd party liabilities on UK track days) insurance on all the track days I have attended so far. However, I imagine quite a lot of people going on track days are not insured, possibly down to the "it's not going to happen to me" mentality.

If a stall, similar to the photographers commonly present at track days, is there next to the sign-on tent/race control tower, would you consider paying a few quid to get your car insured for the day, if nothing else to have the peace of mind and be able to push the car harder?

Edited to add: if your reply is "no", please state why not?

Edited by A.Wang on Thursday 2nd July 14:24

[Mroad]

No, but depends on the price of the insurance, the cover and the value of car I would be using.
The last time I bought track cover was about ten years ago on a car worth £25k. It cost over £200 for one day and the cover was limited to bodywork only up to £16k.
After that I have never bothered with track insurance but I have tracked a lot cheaper cars since.
It's not a case of "it's not going to happen to me", I'm just prepared to lose the value of my car if I write it off (one of the reason I run a dedicated track car).

If the price was reasonable for decent cover then I would consider it.

[A.Wang]

Mroad said:

No, but depends on the price of the insurance, the cover and the value of car I would be using.
The last time I bought track cover was about ten years ago on a car worth £25k. It cost over £200 for one day and the cover was limited to bodywork only up to £16k.
After that I have never bothered with track insurance but I have tracked a lot cheaper cars since.
It's not a case of "it's not going to happen to me", I'm just prepared to lose the value of my car if I write it off (one of the reason I run a dedicated track car).

If the price was reasonable for decent cover then I would consider it.

What would be good value to you? And with what kind of excess/limit?

For example, I run a dedicated track toy worth around £10k with all the mods/prep work done on it. I am paying £30 per track day with a £1500 excess, not limited to just bodywork, which I consider quite reasonable.

[mmm-five]

I usually only get insurance if I have no experience of either a new circuit, a new (to me) car or new organiser.

I pay about £200 for £20k of body/mechanical damage - although none I've seen cover damage caused by misuse/abuse/caning it - only accident damage.

[Chris71]

If you go with Hagerty insurance (like I do!) then you can add as many track days as you like at 10% of the road premium for each day. If you have a modern-classic (or indeed a classic, classic) on a limited mileage policy that's peanuts. It means about £25 a track day, which is pretty good for peace of mind.

Wouldn't bother for an airfield day I don't reckon (nothing stationary to hit and no other cars on the circuit if it's North Weald...) but for a track day I would. That's perhaps because I watched two cars run into eachother on the first flying lap of my first track day. Touch wood I've never been involved in anything, but it certainly can happen and it doesn't have to be your mistake that causes it either.

[neil-f]

I currently have insurance that covers the car for track days at extra cost (10% of premium) with £10k excess on track. If the insurance was available at the track and policy was ok I would consider it.

[Gizmo!]

Did my first one last night. And for this car - definitely not. I took it easy and ramped up, the couple of times I went over the limits the worst that would have happened was a small trip over the grass/gravel.

If there was mechanical cover available, then maybe. But only a fool would insure the oily bits of a car that they hadn't fully inspected.

[WeirdNeville]

No.
Because my car is worth less than £2k, and My total spend on each track day is less than £200. I've had quotes of £80 to cover it for the day, and thats a big chunk of money relatively speaking.
Ultimately, the car doesn't owe me anything, and if I get it wrong and stack it then so long as I walk away then I can accept the loss.

I can fully understand why people in more expensive cars buy insurance, but my car represents a disposable object to me.

[Defcon5]

What if you wipe out someone elses car?

[WeirdNeville]

Not being funny, but that's their problem.
The risks are made plain, and should be obvious to all. And I drive defensively even on track, and do everything possible to prevent any incidents. All the trackdays I've been on have been excellently run and there have been no coming-togethers. (although I have witnessed the death of around £100,000 of machinery in single vehicle accidents).

Anyway, trackday insurance does not cover third part losses, only your own. So it'd be of no use in any event.

Edited by WeirdNeville on Thursday 2nd July 19:35

[speedychrissie]

WeirdNeville said:

Anyway, trackday insurance does not cover third part losses, only your own. So it'd be of no use in any event.

That is the key point. When you sign on for the track day you sign a disclaimer accepting that no-one else is responisble for damage to your vehicle.

[teabagger]

I would buy it, if it gave me a decent level of cover for less than £50.

Edited by teabagger on Thursday 2nd July 19:38

[Gumstabber]

I tend to buy my insurance before I go so having a stall at the track would only make me think two things:-

1) - Damn I wish I'd bought it at the track because it's cheaper here
2) - Glad I bought it before i came because it's more expensive here

[A.Wang]

Chris71 said:

If you go with Hagerty insurance (like I do!) then you can add as many track days as you like at 10% of the road premium for each day. If you have a modern-classic (or indeed a classic, classic) on a limited mileage policy that's peanuts. It means about £25 a track day, which is pretty good for peace of mind.

I am with Hagerty too, and I get the 10% (in my case, 30 quid) per track day cover. However, if I do more than 10 track days a year - and it certainly looks that way at the moment - then there ought to be some sort of cover that would be cheaper!

teabagger said:

I would buy it, if it gave me a decent level of cover for less than £50.

What would be a good level of cover? How much is your track car worth, is it your daily drive as well, and what kind of excess are you willing to pay for 50 quid?

Gumstabber said:

I tend to buy my insurance before I go so having a stall at the track would only make me think two things:-

1) - Damn I wish I'd bought it at the track because it's cheaper here
2) - Glad I bought it before i came because it's more expensive here

I guess in the ideal world there'd be the same company's stall at track days run by all major TDOs who'd sort out insurance at a decent price...so in the same way that photographers are expected at most track days, so would these insurance brokers who'd give us the peace of mind for say, 50-80 quid (what I'm prepared to pay).

Edited by A.Wang on Thursday 2nd July 20:37

[NeilC]

No, because if I was worried about insurance i'd take out an insurance policy that had trackdays included (eg CCI have 5 days free then reasonable after IIRC) or if I was able to limit the mileage/had a garage take out a specialist policy that included unlimited ATDO t.days as part of the policy (eg Heritage).
I doubt it would be economical anyway, not many would pay anymore than a nominal fee in passing trade and you'd have to pay for staff to sit about bored after 10am and money to be there to the circuit/TDO. And that's before you wonder why they change their mind like it starting to snow/moronic organization/etc which you'd normally try and avoid for profit reasons anyway.

[tertius]

I typically don't bother with insurance since my insurer stopped offering it as standard. I track either a 993 911 or a Lotus Elise (likely to be the Elise from now on).

What I would like, and would make me buy it would be something like 5k of cover for £50. Ideally not limited to bodywork, and with a reasonable excess say £500.

I don't want/need the full value of the car covered, as I think the probability of fully writing it off is acceptably low, but something that covered the bulk of the cost of the majority of likely incidents at a reasonable cost would be great.

Plus if it could also cover 3rd party at the Nordschleife ... even better but perhaps I'm getting OT here.

[Herman Toothrot]

No because the excesses are to high in relation to my car. The value in my car are the mechanical modifications. If I roll it or put it into armco it'll all be body damage, I can pick up a new same year car for £1500 and swap everything over and then probably get a bit more back breaking the remains.

Having done close to 30 trackdays now I've only ever seen one expensive crash and that was a newbie leavng the track on their own. When ever i've pushed it too hard its been a simple spin and carry on. They is good run off at most tracks and if there isn't then you take it easier.

[Fer]

What about one you could sort out in advance for x number of track days, and then just phone/text the day before you go out. This would potentially be cheaper, and will less overhead to have someone at the track to complete the paperwork.

[chris7676]

I dont understand the point - are you suggesting off the shelf insurance? With complexity of the british insurance "system" that doesn't seem a viable option. And a few quid - if only.

[neil-f]

Prior to my current car I self insured for track days but as insurance company only charge £90 for £100k of cover I feel it is worth it.