Does insurance cover your car if you wreck it at the track?

Bigot Bledsoe

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Was thinking of possibly going to sebring, but the thought of wrecking and having to pay for it has kept me away. I have progressive insurance if that helps.
Also, who has wrecked their car at the track? All the info possible would be appreciated.
 

RX VIPER

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I wrecked my '93 at Gateway a few years ago. It WAS covered by my insurance as they considered it a driving school, and we were not 'racing'. I did 13k in damage to the back end of the car. They even payed for my V-mania windows that were damaged in the trunk.

Most insurance co's will not pay for any racing or timed track events. Check with your agent to be sure.

However, if you wreck it at the track and can toe/drive it to a seperate area and just say I wreck my car in xxxx, FL. Most likely it would be covered. No names, but I've heard this has worked in the past for some owners.
 
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Bigot Bledsoe

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I wrecked my '93 at Gateway a few years ago. It WAS covered by my insurance as they considered it a driving school, and we were not 'racing'. I did 13k in damage to the back end of the car. They even payed for my V-mania windows that were damaged in the trunk.

Most insurance co's will not pay for any racing or timed track events. Check with your agent to be sure.

However, if you wreck it at the track and can toe/drive it to a seperate area and just say I wreck my car in xxxx, FL. Most likely it would be covered. No names, but I've heard this has worked in the past for some owners.

That's what I planned on doing if so(getting it towed). However, my luck I would be knocked out or someshit etc. I called progressive, they said nope..But i may be able to get commercial insurance or something, I'll have to call them tomorrow.
 

joe117

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If you really did wreck the car on the track, move it and tell your insurance company that it happened somewhere else, you would be guilty of felony fraud.

You could go to jail big time.

Lot's of people talk about doing this, I don't think very many people would really do it. So many people would know the truth. Any investigator could find out what happened.

The question of your insurance company paying for a track wreck, has been discussed a few times.
The only way you can be sure of your coverage is to level with the company. Tell them exactly what event you are running.
Get it in writing that you are covered. There have been people who's agent told them one thing and then the company said no.
 

Roland L-Ocala FL

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Be very careful here, as some companies will actually even drop your coverage if they find that you have been on the track at all. You realy need to do your homework, and I think you will also find that if you get racing insurance, it will be outrageously expensive. The rules have changed considerably just within the last few years from what I have found. I wanted to go to a high performance driving school at the Gingerman through the Michigan Viper Club and when I checked with my insurance company they said "no way" so I don't go there anymore. Now I only go to watch like today at Gingerman is Viper Days and it is a fun event to watch if nothing else. I would love to participate, but could not afford the loss if I hurt the car.
 

pdmracing

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Search the posts for rockytops experiance with progressive, Get rid of them NOW. Save a buck now but they never pay.

State farm has covered me & many others that I know of. Even an instructor @ a well known racing school that I wont name :smirk: totaled his heavily modded car & SF paid on the spot. Even though his occupation was race driver. If you can't afford the wreck, you are right to stay off the track. Stick with autocross & drag racing or buy a cheap car to trash on the track. Tracking the Viper is fun, but so is a miata at 11/10ths! Fun on the track equals intensity. If you are driving your Viper @ 6/10th's it feels fast but driving a slower car @ 10/10th's will feel just as exciting or even more so.

On that note I tracked all my cars for 15 years before I ever hit anything(not so with my race cars) So most driving events are pretty safe. What no one ever thinks about is the un avoidbles like a blown motor in front of you or the anti freeze ect on the track. I dont care who you are , some things you cannot control. Either you have crashed, or you havent crashed......... yet.

CAll state farm
 

garolittle

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joe117

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"American Collectors Insurance offers on-track insurance for the Viper".

I wonder how much they would charge for an SCCA type race event?

Are we talking insurance on your race car or liability insurance?
 

pdmracing

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The track insurance is based on value, & it insures you not the car, soooooooo with a 15% value deductable & 45 k coverge is around 5k to 7500 for 10 events per year Regardless of race or track event or car you are in. I looked into it when doing grand am cup last year. Not a bad deal really,so for a 45k car you will pay a 6750 deductable plus your premium
 

RockyTop

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Been there, done that ! Progressive now has law on the books in GA (which will probably be followed in FL if a case of first impression) that interprets the Progressive policy language very much in favor of the insurance company. Every person is entitled to their day in court, but your chances aren't good with Progressive's policy.
 

Andrew/USPWR

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I've been doing driving schools for over 10 years. Always drove my street car there and drove it back home. Never a wreak. If your driving your car that far past your ( or your cars ) limits, Your not worried about wreaking it.
I try to drive between 80% and 90% of my ability. Never go even close to the edge. My goal is to always drive my car home. A few seconds on the track is not worth $10k-$20k and my car in the shop for a few months.
Driving Schools are a blast. Anyone owning a performance car, will never fully enjoy what they've paid for, without learning to drive it on a track.

Just do it







2000 GTS Steel Grey
6 piston Baer claws up front, Front brakes in back, Quaife differential, GKH half shafts,
Alloy fly wheel, Short throw shifter, Polished aluminum intakes, K&N air filters,
Optima battery, Sterling silver ignition key, ACR 5 point harnesses.
 

joe117

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Andrew/USPWR says, "just do it".

You can't control everything on a racetrack. Not even if you call it a driving school.

There is a very good chance that you will damage or destroy your car.
Not too risky? The insurance company think's it is.

It happens all the time. Even with the instructor sitting right there.

I'm sure it's fun and I'm sure that the experience makes you a better driver.

But before you listen to a guy who thinks he will never have that big wreck because he is careful,
think about the destruction of your car.

Can you afford it? Would it be just a bad day or would it change your finances in a big way?

Don't play if you can't pay.
 

pdmracing

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I've been doing driving schools for over 10 years. Always drove my street car there and drove it back home. Never a wreak. If your driving your car that far past your ( or your cars ) limits, Your not worried about wreaking it.
I try to drive between 80% and 90% of my ability. Never go even close to the edge. My goal is to always drive my car home. A few seconds on the track is not worth $10k-$20k and my car in the shop for a few months.
Driving Schools are a blast. Anyone owning a performance car, will never fully enjoy what they've paid for, without learning to drive it on a track.

Just do it.


Yeah? what happens when the car in front of you looses its tranny or blows a radiator hose & dumps a gallon or two on the apex of the corner? How about mechanical failure on your car? tire blow out? Driving at 5/10ths wont save you. If you drive on the track , you need to be prepared for the uncontrollable. Driving a viper on the track is adding 30 to 50 mph to the speeds that most cars on track attain, that adds to the skill set required. I give Skip @ Vipers days a lot of credit for his great safety record & I think that his Viper specific program helps keep the carnage down.

Read my original reply, I have had thousands of hours on the track in street cars & it took 15 years & a 27 degree day before I even had a wreck let alone break anything. I did however understand the risks involved & was prepared to write it off if I wrecked. I also prepared my car to the nth degree with proper equipment & maintainence. I have instructed & teched for many a club & I could not believe the condition of some of the cars & drivers & egos you are sharing the track with. I have been in students cars that have lost the brakes in TWO LAPS & drove the car straight into a tire wall(in a 911! ouch). I have been in Vipers with drivers who have told me thay have 9 track days under their beltn & put themselves in the advanced class when they have had no experiance at all. After trying to kill both of us, then bad mouthing the instructor for "making them spin".

The point is , track driving isnt just about you, & if you havent wrecked yet, congrats. But to think that its never gonna happen is wishful thinking.

PS: On my dealing with state farm on my wifes boxster, they came to the body shop the next day, asked for the car that wrecked @ R/A & cut me a check on the spot, the damage estamate was $2900 for the front bumper & air bags, cost me 1800 to fix, then a month later got a check for 700 diminished value, the day I turned it back in to the lease co!

PSS; sont even think about the ole have the wrecker trhrow it in the ditch plan, with the new phone cams, the boxster was on 5 web boards that day!
 

Mr U-2

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What PDMRACING said is very good advice.

I've been racing since I was a young guy. Everything from Ice racing to rallys to road racing. We had a saying about running off the runway in the U-2...those that have & those that will...same with performance driving....don't kid yourself, sooner or later you'll depart the track and/or bend something.

As a young LT during a SCCA event in Texas I managed to pretty much cut a Triumph GT-6 in half with my car...my USAA insurance company never blinked...the guy said something about expecting pilots to do this kind of thing every now & then. How things have changed! I called USAA, still my insurance company, before I ran the Viper at No Problem Raceway in March. Not only no but I was to NEVER...EVER track the car...I explained about driving schools, education etc....forget about it. No coverage. I ran anyway but I am very careful now about where I run the Viper in traffic. I will check out the insurance mentioned above, but my advice is to be sure you know if you're covered. Hope you can figure out a way to be covered, because as everyone has said running the Viper hard is addictive. Good luck.

Paul :usa:
 

joe117

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So far we have been talking about insurance paying for your race wrecked car.
So let's say you can afford to just write off your Viper.

I wonder what would happen if you caused or even were involved in an wreck on the track, where someone received something like a spinal injury and was paralyzed for life.
In a case like this, I would think someone might be coming after you.

The guy with deep pockets is often the target in cases like this.
The guy is a 100% disabled vegetable forever, there is perhaps a family, medical bills, house payments, all that. They might simply be forced to go after someone... anyone.

Someone is going to pay and an insurance company might just start looking to defray their costs.

I'm wondering how ironclad a signed waver would be in a case like that.
 

pdmracing

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So far we have been talking about insurance paying for your race wrecked car.
So let's say you can afford to just write off your Viper.

I wonder what would happen if you caused or even were involved in an wreck on the track, where someone received something like a spinal injury and was paralyzed for life.
In a case like this, I would think someone might be coming after you.

The guy with deep pockets is often the target in cases like this.
The guy is a 100% disabled vegetable forever, there is perhaps a family, medical bills, house payments, all that. They might simply be forced to go after someone... anyone.

Someone is going to pay and an insurance company might just start looking to defray their costs.

I'm wondering how ironclad a signed waver would be in a case like that.

Not a chance, thats what the waiver you sign @ the track entry is for, Not only is it a liability waiver, it covers you or any spectator or paricipant with insurance for that. Most tracks have between 5 & 7 million for long term care stuff. Thats why it is IMPORTANT to sign the waiver, dont be lazy or think you are going to be able to sue, you are not covered by the insurance unless you sign.
 

Ulysses

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I have wrecked at the track. It caused quite a bit of damage. State Farm covered it, but also said that they would not cover me if I wrecked again. I had done a few events before this happened, had some seat time and got over confident. "Those that have and those that will" defintely applied.

P.S. I was approached by several people that showed me the video of me wrecking.

P.S.S The track keeps a log of things like wrecks.
 

FrankBarba

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If your thinking of running track events you need a car whether its a viper or a spec miata that you can afford to loose. now on another note. i've got a rt/10 set up for racing or track events that is very affordable. i would like to sell so i can race my other car. pictures can be seen at www.picturetrail.com. type the word hemidaytna in the box on the left & go to the folder that reads rt/10.
 
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Bigot Bledsoe

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Decided I'm not gonna take the risk, prolly invest in a car I could lose and not care about.Thanks for the input.
 
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