Discussion
FOr those who have policies with Royal Sun Alliance, I have just been told that they have withdrawn their track day cover. They used to cover any TVR organised event, that recently changed to any nationaly organised event (what ever that meant) and they now say they are not offering cover at all.
All this without letting us poor policy holders know, I have asked them for a refund so that the policy can be moved to a more reasonable underwriter.
Worth checking before booking a day out.
Saw this on the web:
"I've been lurking in alt.cars.lotus, and spotted this today:
With apologies for the lengthy reply - here is the official version from senior underwriter at Privilege:
Historically some Insurers have excluded cover for track days by invoking the exclusion of racing, pacemaking and speed competitions.
The fact is that Track day rules ban racing, speed tests or dangerous driving and therefore the above exclusion cannot be invoked.
One prominant Insurer tried this exclusion and a test case was submitted to the Insurance Ombudsman. His findings are binding upon the Insurance Industry. He found in favour of the policy holder...therefore all Insurers include track days in their cover, although they do not advertise this and in some cases activley discourage their policy holders from participating.
The Privilege position is:
Track Days are included. There is no restriction on the number of cars involved, other than as controlled by the track day regs. As a track day is classed as normal road use (albeit on a private road) it is not a material fact which needs to be disclosed to Insurers, however advise is to disclose anyway and then there can be no misunderstanding. Special terms should not apply.<<
I've had a nose around the web and can't find any verification of this, I'll ask at work this week and see if I can find any references.
In the meantime, try checking this story with your insurance company and see how they react."
Seems interesting, as is correctly said unless the policies specifically exclude trackdays, then they would seem to be legal driving on private road, provided there is no racing.
Anyone got any thoughts or had responses from insurers?
Guy R
I tried competition car insurance again last month and yet again they sent me a scale of charges which would work out at about £250 a day for most 3ish year old TVR's. I've got a renewal comming up so if anyone knows ofany companies that cover track days as part of the package please post.
Well having just 'lost' £850 on the insurance for my weekend Chimaera (special thanks to Independent) and having just been quoted £305 (with £2000 excess) by Competition Insurance for 80 mins of track time at Bedford in July with Palmer Sport (30th July) - I'm looking for new insurance.
Does anybody have either :-
1. A company that genuinely offers both
2. A company that offers sensibly priced / packaged single day track cover
Failing this I'm really considering setting up my own business as there are 6 of us who need this asap. (and why not as the 'person' at Independent didn't appear to need any relevant skills).
Sorry for the rant but why is this so hard? It's not as if I've got a old banger I'm going to thrash to death and drive like a dodgem...
Hi
I just spoke with Malcolm at Sunninghill Insurance about a small claim I have to make and asked him about this removal of track day cover.
He told me catagorically that they have not, nor have they ever, removed track day cover from any of their policies and that this is the absolute first he has heard of it. He assured me that I still have it and will do when I come to renew!
Their e-mail address BTW is enquiries@sun-hill.co.uk
I have always found them to be reasonably priced and really helpful and was not looking forward to moving brokers so I'm pleased that nothing has changed!
Cheers
Marco
i'm also interested in any genuine companies who would work with a car club to offer our members a policy, either annual or on an individual events basis for trackdays. we have 150+ members, and the majority do between 2-5 track events per year. surely an interested company out there?
at trax 2001 its £35 for 5k cover for a 15 minute session, we have 55 cars going on track (different sessions).
if there was a decent annual policy for say £100-200 per car dependant on cover reqd etc, i'm sure hundreds of people would jump at the chance.
with a reasonable excess, as most people would willingly pay a bit for any "excursion damage"!
any help/advice with this appreciated, because almost all members in that grey area of not knowing if covered on own policy, or forking out £50-100 per event.
regards
chris mann
A few comments:
Road/Track policies:
The MX5 Owners Club has a policy with AON that includes track cover (for minimal admin fee). You can probably get lower premiums if you shop around, but one track day should cancel out the difference.
Ombudsman Case:
I've seen this letter from Privilege on the web. This sounds promising. If anyone could actually QUOTE the CASE where this happened, I would quite happily take my car on track without explicit cover. However, for the moment I am tempted to treat this as Urban Myth status (albeit highly believable).
Track Only Cover:
Rumour has it that Egger Lawson actually LOST money last year on these policies (i.e. at £10 per 1K cover, large excess). I'm guessing that a few people crashed fairly expensive modern cars. So you can't really blame them for charging a lot.
HOWEVER... their premium has NO RISK FACTORS involved. Of the numerous driver I know who have used them, I know of NO CLAIMS. Also, having done a few events scratch-free, I feel a MUCH LOWER RISK than on my first outing. Also, airfield events are almost completely idiot-proof, yet there is no cheap cover available for the paranoid - seems an obvious money spinner to me.
I'm not criticising E.L./Competition Car Insurance, merely expressing frustration at the hole in the market,
(N.B. Owners of 3yr-old Tivs would still pay through the nose under this plan - sorry Guys!) Any brokers/underwriters on this board?
Cheers,
Matt
Adam try AOne insurance brokers - I have a Norwich Union policy through them which covers track days, I just have to tell them when I'm going and they issue a special cover note at no extra charge BUT there is a £1000 excess.
Having seen prices on another thread they are not the cheapest but if track day cover is what you want they do it.
Speak to Mike Brown on 01202 760022
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