Proper insurance coverage for your vehicle is entirely your responsibility. Neither Track Junkies nor its instructors carry insurance on your vehicle. The only potential coverage is under your existing automobile policy, or an optional motorsport collision insurance policy (referred to as “Track Day Insurance”). But before you panic, read on …
About Alberta Standard Automobile Insurance Policies
All companies offering insurance for street-licensed vehicles in Alberta are required by law to abide by Alberta Standard Automobile Policy S.P.F. No. 1 (2013). This standard policy excludes coverage where the automobile is involved in a “race or speed test”. If you are running in a timed run group, of course this activity will void your insurance. However, we offer several non-timed run groups, and purposely do not award prizes or rank participants in any of our non-timed run groups. Our legal council advises that running in non-timed run groups DOES NOT exclude you from insurance coverage, and there have been several successful claims over the years that confirm that legal interpretation.
However, we cannot dictate how your insurance company may interpret our events relative to the policy wording … or how long the fight will be if you make a claim.
Plus it is a bit of a Catch 22 — if you ask call your insurer to confirm your coverage, they will almost certainly tell you that your policy does not cover track days. While the Alberta Standard Automobile Policy does not give your insurer this right to deny coverage on an existing policy, once your insurer has told you that you do not have coverage it becomes very hard to go backwards and make a claim. And if you press the issue, it is likely your insurer will cancel your policy. So, and this is the Catch 22, it is virtually impossible to confirm you have coverage.
In addition, some insurers will ask if you intend to drive at the track before writing your policy, and may decline to write the policy if you disclose that you intend to expose them to this risk. However, due to the mandatory minimum coverages mandated by law, the insurance industry has a company of last resort that must provide coverage (referred to as “facility” within the industry). Insurance companies may not tell you this, but a reputable independent insurance broker will.
Insurance in Other Provinces
It is our understanding that standard insurance policies in both British Columbia and Saskatchewan use similar exclusionary wording to the Alberta Standard Automobile Policy. However, we have not had their policy documents vetted by legal counsel. Standard policy documents are easy to find … just Google “automobile insurance policy wording
About Insurance for Track Days
There are speciality insurance products designed specifically to provide collision coverage and liability coverage for vehicles being driven at track days, available in Canada through Stoneridge Specialty Insurance (who also provide Track Junkies’ liability coverage). Some of the options include:
1) No-fault physical damage coverage (a.k.a. collision coverage) that will be paid out regardless of how the incident occurs, without affecting your other vehicles, or your other policies, or your future rates. That is, your claim is isolated from anything else you insure.
2) Supplemental liability insurance for track cars, sponsors, and race teams.
3) Off-track and storage insurance for race cars, trailers, and trailer contents.
Track Junkies open lapping events have been approved by Stoneridge Specialty Insurance for this coverage. Stoneridge further advises that their coverage is not void in our timed run groups. For more information on what is covered and the rates, please visit the their website at www.stoneridgespecialty.ca.
What Will You Tell My Insurance Company?
Track Junkies will truthfully answer any and all questions posed by your broker and/or insurer. You are welcome to refer your broker or insurer to us for questions about how our program works in advance of an event, and of course you know they will contact us to confirm the facts if you make a claim. We are well-versed in what the standard insurance policies say about coverage and will advocate on your behalf; but at the same time, we absolutely will not mislead or hide material facts or commit insurance fraud including that we will disclose whether someone involved in an incident was participating in a timed run group.