1st time Track Day Insurance

[Logan]

I want to do an I.A.M. driver skills day in my Z4M Coupe later in the year but they (I.A.M.) say I have to be insured to do this. I am 54, male and have a full NCB, no points (since 1980) and no claims - ever. Their insurance company couldn't insure me - despite being confident they could when I first contacted them. I have to be able to prove I have previous track day experience / previous experience of driving "performance" cars. Catch 22 there I'm afraid - this will be my first track day.

I have obtained a quote from Ryan Motor Sport Insurance but for a one day only cover it is £147 - which to me is a bit steep considering the track day which includes instructor guidance throughout is only £189.
Can anyone tell me if there is a better company out there that I should be using. My road use insurer doesn't do track day cover and is only costing me for annual insurance £468 for 20,000 miles. Perhaps I have an unrealistic idea of what a days track insurance should cost?

Or maybe there are other track days you may know about where I can use my car and have an instructor teach me how to drive it at speed with confidence and where I can get to find out how it handles in the reletive safety of a track that include insurance?

[Logan]

Does nobody out there have an answer?

Surely some of you do track days? Where do you insure your car and how much is it?

[BMWZ4MC]

Try here:

http://www.moris.co.uk/

It's about £90 with the first £1,000 not covered and £1-200 excess I believe, but it is dependent on the track and your history / experience

[Telstar]

Hi Logan. Where are you doing your track day as the price seems reasonable. Cheers.

[ZedFourM]

I've done a few track days over the years, but have never had insurance for them.

However, I've never heard of the IAM doing track days. They do various off-road driving education days (I've been on a skid pan with them a few times), but it's always based on "road" driving. A track day, on the other hand, is about learning to drive quickly and smoothly. If they tell you to shuffle steer, it's an IAM day; if they tell you to keep your hands planted on the wheel, it's a track day

Perhaps you should position it with your existing insurer as a "driving education" event rather than a "track day" and see whether they will cover you?

[mmm-five]

Price sounds about normal - or is about the same as I would pay for a day's insurance at the 'Ring - and that's with over 50 uneventful track days under my belt.

Most track day cover is based on the same principle of 1% of the car value as premium, and 10% of the car value as excess.

So a Z4MC valued at £15k would warrant a £150 premium and a £1500 excess - however, in most cases, if your claim is less than the excess you get nothing, but you can also insure the excess.

Don't forget that track day insurance only covers YOUR car, so if you hit someone/something else, they are not covered. If someone hits you, then you claim off your own insurance.

[BMWZ4MC]

I've just checked my current quote from Moris for my next track day:

Insured value £17,000
Excess £1,088
Admin fee if claim made £125
Premium £91.10

With Moris, the excess is not really an excess but the minimum damage that must be sustained before they will pay for a claim. However, once that threshold has been reached, they will pay for the full amount of the claim.

Previously, I have payed around £150 per track day to other companies. This is the cheapest company I've found. The criteria they use to assess your risk are the specific track; the company organising the day; your experience of track days and any accident history on track; your history of accidents and speeding penalties on the road; and your age and occupation.

Of note, if I insured the excess, paid for recovery of my vehicle, and included personal injury insurance, the premium would approach that I've paid before.

[James_H]

I've comtemplated the IAM skills days before, but the dates always end up clashing (they only have 18th October left this year). They seem quite a different kettle of fish to a normal track day, as there are a variety of skills developed. I was under the impression it was to develop road skills, but on a safe track environment.

I'm surprised the IAM insist upon your own insurance. It really isn't a track day in the normal sense and there was nothing stating it was needed on their website at the buying stage. It was possible to buy these skills days as a gift, but it wouldn't be a great gift if you need to pay almost half that again to use it,

If speed is your thing, how about one of the BMW novice track evenings? I did one last year and there are two more dates this year. They're only half a day and cost less than £50, but £25 gets an instructor for 15 minutes and £10 a helmet for the evening. Once you've done that, it might give you eligibility for the original insurance you considered.

I used Moris for my first track day a couple of years ago as they were one of the best value then, but had no need to claim.

[Logan]

Many thanks for the responces:

BMWZ4MC: I'll give Moris a try - looks cheaper. + Your 2nd post - good information, just what I was after, I'll have an idea now as to whether I'm paying over the odds.

Telstar: It is the I.A.M. event on 18/10/2012 at Silverstone. They use the Stowe circuit.

ZedFourM: Good idea, thanks.

mmm-five: Good information, thanks.

James_H: Good suggestion - I'll try and chase up the BMW novice track evening.