Trackday insurance, do you bother?
Discussion
Never done a trackday before, my wife was going to get me some tuition and laps at Knockhill in my own car. TBH, I'd rather do it in my own car than someone elses, I'd rather learn exactly what my car is capable of. Problem is insurance, Elephant unsurprisingly give a big NO to trackdays so I'd looked into trackday insurance, seems to be around the hundred quid mark which I'm not really prepared to pay.
I would have no intentions of leaving the track but s
t happens sometimes and I'd rather be covered in some way... so oddly enough, it seems more economical to take someone elses Ferrari out than my own Ford Puma!
Do you bother with trackday insurance and just hope that you keep it on the black bit?
I would have no intentions of leaving the track but s
t happens sometimes and I'd rather be covered in some way... so oddly enough, it seems more economical to take someone elses Ferrari out than my own Ford Puma! Do you bother with trackday insurance and just hope that you keep it on the black bit?
I wouldn't bother if I were you. No disrespect, I'm sure you like the car, but a Puma just isn't worth it. It's unlikely to be written off, any damage would be mainly superficial and you won't get 3rd party cover so you're only insuring to protect yourself. Just take it easy, keep in the back of your head you've got to drive home afterwards and you'll be fine..
iguana said:
Hope??
Simply don't drive like a bellend & don't crash,
...and hope that no one crashes in to you, as insurance is for your own car not damage you do to someone elses. So you can drive like Miss Daisy but if an aforementioned bellend hits you, you pay for the damage to your own car.Simply don't drive like a bellend & don't crash,
Personally when its my own car I underwrite the risk myself and don't bother with trackday insurance. If I'm hiring then I go for absolute maximum excess the company will let me have to get any insurance down as low as possible.
Car to car contact is rare on a trackday due to the various rules so as long as you drive within your limits, the cars limits and the conditions limits then more than likely you will be ok.
So it's down to you to decide what level of risk you are comfortable taking.
What you're basically saying in your OP is that your car is not worth 100 quid to you, which I spose for a Puma is about right.
Edited by mattdaniels on Friday 4th December 06:17
I insure mine for the sake of £68.
Not so worried if I got off and bend it, more to protect myself from the said nobhead brigade. I don't want some clown destroying my little beast and leaving me with nothing... I don't care if someone hits me and shafts their car, as long as I'm insured I'll at least get some of my money back on it. Where as without insurance, Uncle Nobhead with more money than sense would leave me with nothing and having to save up for a reshell.
It's a two way thing for me. The lack of any Thrid Party cover doesn't bother me, everyone has the chance to insure their car. If you're worried, insure it.
Not so worried if I got off and bend it, more to protect myself from the said nobhead brigade. I don't want some clown destroying my little beast and leaving me with nothing... I don't care if someone hits me and shafts their car, as long as I'm insured I'll at least get some of my money back on it. Where as without insurance, Uncle Nobhead with more money than sense would leave me with nothing and having to save up for a reshell.
It's a two way thing for me. The lack of any Thrid Party cover doesn't bother me, everyone has the chance to insure their car. If you're worried, insure it.
Edited by FLD_WILLIS on Friday 4th December 06:24
I don't bother with insurance myself but when comparing taking your car out with a experience drive in a Ferrari, don't forget that you will get the full day driving in your car (be it open pit or sessions etc) whereas you'll probably get three or four laps in the Ferrari so you won't get the chance to learn as much..........
Steve H
Steve H
I do insure my car on track, in case I'm hit by someone else.
As others have said, you can be the best driver in the world, but if they guy behind gets it wrong and runs into you you would have no where to claim money from for the damage caused to your car. My car cost £17k when I bought it 2nd hand a couple of years ago, probably worth around £10k-£12k now. I wouldn't want to be in the position of having an accident (fault or non fault) which would leave me that far out of pocket, I'm not in a position to self insure that value. So I stump up my £60 and buy trackday cover, because at least then I don't have to worry so much and can enjoy the day more. (Clearly I'm not reckless just because I have insurance, but it at least doesn't feel like I've put thousands of pounds I can't afford on the roulette table.)
Actually, that's a good way to think about it: "Would I gamble £10,000.00 for the chance to win £60 so long as my car isn't damaged on the trackday?" The answer for me is "no" as the potential upside of 'winning' £60 doesn't outweigh the potential downside of losing £10,000.00. Maybe if your car is worth say £2,000 and you're been quoted £150 for insurance then the gamble looks more worth it.
I just think it's important to realise that you can't control whether your car gets damaged or not, because someone can run into you and they will not be under any obligation to pay out. Track insurance is 'first party' only, and there is no third party liability. (So you can't be liable if you damage someone's Ferarri, but neither can you claim if a Pug 205 hits you!)
As others have said, you can be the best driver in the world, but if they guy behind gets it wrong and runs into you you would have no where to claim money from for the damage caused to your car. My car cost £17k when I bought it 2nd hand a couple of years ago, probably worth around £10k-£12k now. I wouldn't want to be in the position of having an accident (fault or non fault) which would leave me that far out of pocket, I'm not in a position to self insure that value. So I stump up my £60 and buy trackday cover, because at least then I don't have to worry so much and can enjoy the day more. (Clearly I'm not reckless just because I have insurance, but it at least doesn't feel like I've put thousands of pounds I can't afford on the roulette table.)
Actually, that's a good way to think about it: "Would I gamble £10,000.00 for the chance to win £60 so long as my car isn't damaged on the trackday?" The answer for me is "no" as the potential upside of 'winning' £60 doesn't outweigh the potential downside of losing £10,000.00. Maybe if your car is worth say £2,000 and you're been quoted £150 for insurance then the gamble looks more worth it.
I just think it's important to realise that you can't control whether your car gets damaged or not, because someone can run into you and they will not be under any obligation to pay out. Track insurance is 'first party' only, and there is no third party liability. (So you can't be liable if you damage someone's Ferarri, but neither can you claim if a Pug 205 hits you!)
So I guess an interesting question, and one that might never be 100% honestly answered, is:
Does having track insurance make you more callous?
You know that you are going to be OK, bar an excess, does it change your mind set?
ETA: For the OP I would not consider insurance. The excess might exceed the market value of the car.
Does having track insurance make you more callous?
You know that you are going to be OK, bar an excess, does it change your mind set?
ETA: For the OP I would not consider insurance. The excess might exceed the market value of the car.
Edited by Jon_Bmw on Friday 4th December 09:06
I usually do, but I completely forgot for last Sunday (at Silverstone) when it was very wet and actually necessary! Oops.
Just as well I didn't bin it then...
In general it's a good idea, unless the car is disposible and you don't care/won't miss the cash if you write it off in a big off/crash (your fault or otherwise - as it'll hit your wallet either way).
Just as well I didn't bin it then...
In general it's a good idea, unless the car is disposible and you don't care/won't miss the cash if you write it off in a big off/crash (your fault or otherwise - as it'll hit your wallet either way).
This question of insurance has been bugging me for a while now. I have always bought it and buy 10 trackdays worth of insurance at a time (approx. £200 per day) for an Exige which was new 7 months ago. In the last 7 months I have spent just short of £7000 on track day insurance and I have 8 days left in credit. Since March I have probably done in the region of 30 trackdays. What the insurance does do is give me some kind of peace of mind on the day which helps the enjoyment factor. To date I have never really been close to putting a claim in but I have now done enough days to realise S**t happens.
However the gamble of £200 against £35000 it is still probably worth buying. Even I know that £1000 a month on trackday insurance is bordering on ridiculous so I have just bought a spaceframe racing car which is basically designed for the job. All the bodywork basically clips off and is replaced cheaply and the mechanics are all pretty standard. So now I will forget the insurance and will only use it if I take the Exige out.
I think everything is relative and I would probably take the insurance out on the Puma, however I would shop around first as I would have thought £100 for the Puma might be a bit on the high side. Hope this helps.
However the gamble of £200 against £35000 it is still probably worth buying. Even I know that £1000 a month on trackday insurance is bordering on ridiculous so I have just bought a spaceframe racing car which is basically designed for the job. All the bodywork basically clips off and is replaced cheaply and the mechanics are all pretty standard. So now I will forget the insurance and will only use it if I take the Exige out.
I think everything is relative and I would probably take the insurance out on the Puma, however I would shop around first as I would have thought £100 for the Puma might be a bit on the high side. Hope this helps.
I insure my car through Hagerty, who provide trackday cover for 10% of your annual policy per trackday, so thats about £25 per trackday for me, to cover a 17k car.
It doesn't make you drive reckless, I'm more concerned with someone hitting me, especially in the wet, where things can easily go wrong.
It doesn't make you drive reckless, I'm more concerned with someone hitting me, especially in the wet, where things can easily go wrong.
If you are looking for a decent quote try:
Motorsports insurance services:
http://www.raceinsurance.co.uk/
and Adrian Flux:
http://www.adrianflux.co.uk/
I would expect you to be able to get it for about £60 for the day. The excess however is normally about 10% of the agreed value of the car.
I have not done trackday insurance before as I am not aiming to push my car to the absolute limit on a trackday, but my insurance with MIS includes 4 trackdays in it.
Motorsports insurance services:
http://www.raceinsurance.co.uk/
and Adrian Flux:
http://www.adrianflux.co.uk/
I would expect you to be able to get it for about £60 for the day. The excess however is normally about 10% of the agreed value of the car.
I have not done trackday insurance before as I am not aiming to push my car to the absolute limit on a trackday, but my insurance with MIS includes 4 trackdays in it.
I only insure mine when I'm either going 1) to a new track, or 2) with a new track day organiser.
The reason for 1) is that I don't know the track and could stuff it into a tyre wall or such, although I don't insure it for the full value
The reason for 2) is that I don't know how the new TDO handles driver behaviour and what sort of event they're running (i.e. barry boy / chav banger racing style or seasoned enthusiasts)
The reason for 1) is that I don't know the track and could stuff it into a tyre wall or such, although I don't insure it for the full value
The reason for 2) is that I don't know how the new TDO handles driver behaviour and what sort of event they're running (i.e. barry boy / chav banger racing style or seasoned enthusiasts)
I didn't bother and last wkend cost me £2500 to fix 
some idiot thought he was a fangio and came into a turn too fast, ended up clipping my front wing!
Of course he didn't care: driving an old piece of japanese sh!t. On the other hand I'm driving a very rare 993TT "S".
Oh well...looking forward to the next track day
some idiot thought he was a fangio and came into a turn too fast, ended up clipping my front wing!Of course he didn't care: driving an old piece of japanese sh!t. On the other hand I'm driving a very rare 993TT "S".
Oh well...looking forward to the next track day
911Thrasher said:
I didn't bother and last wkend cost me £2500 to fix some idiot thought he was a fangio and came into a turn too fast, ended up clipping my front wing!
Of course he didn't care: driving an old piece of japanese sh!t. On the other hand I'm driving a very rare 993TT "S".
Oh well...looking forward to the next track day
What did he say afterwards, if anything? some idiot thought he was a fangio and came into a turn too fast, ended up clipping my front wing!Of course he didn't care: driving an old piece of japanese sh!t. On the other hand I'm driving a very rare 993TT "S".
Oh well...looking forward to the next track day
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