Insuring a hill climb car for the street

Chief Geek
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Insuring a hill climb car for the street

Post by Chief Geek »

I need advice.

My plan is to drive my hillclimb car to events (the ex-Esty Miata) and this requires a minimum of insurance coverage in VT.

I could just insure it like any other car, but I have a deep distrust of insurance companies. I've seen hard they work to weasel out of their obligations. If any serious bad luck were to happen on the public roads, I've no doubt the adjuster/inspector will take one look at the roll cage, claim that they don't cover "race cars", and leave us high, dry, and personally liable.

I haven't found a non-specialty insurance company that covers "race cars". They all seem to have the same definition of "race car" which is any vehicle with "performance, or safety, enhancing modifications". I doubt they care about wheels and shocks, but a roll cage is hard to hide.

How do other NEHA competitors get insurance for the cars they drive to the hills? (besides trailers)

Please let me know about any solutions people have found. I'm hoping to get actual coverage (for public roads) that these snakes can't wiggle out of honoring.

Paul

PS Most insurance brokers I know are good people but they're just the commissioned sales force for the insurance companies, which seem to rank on the "moral integrity" scale somewhere between the Nixon and Stalin.
"Christina", New #13/#55x, '90 Miata: In progress
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Re: Insuring a hill climb car for the street

Post by dsldubn »

I don't have a real answer because I just don't worry about it...but I've been driving my caged hillclimb rabbit on the street since 2011. I've been pulled over man times and never given a hard time about the cage or anything. I've had regular liability insurance on the car since I put it on the road. I know that doesn't answer your question of whether or not they'd pay a claim, but I'd guess the majority of us just have regular automobile insurance.
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Re: Insuring a hill climb car for the street

Post by walterclark »

When my cars was a rally car I had to carry insurance. I insured it thru my MetLife agent and he said it would not be covered if something happened while actually in competition but it would be insured outside of that. In fact coverage and exclusions during racing was described in as many words within the standard text of the policy. This is in contrast to stories I have heard about other insurers cancelling policies at the mere mention of "racing".
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Chief Geek
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Re: Insuring a hill climb car for the street

Post by Chief Geek »

Walter: No doubt there is a no-coverage-during-competition clause in the policies, I'm just looking for what you had (coverage when driving to/from an event, never during). I don't know if anyone I spoke to rep'ed MetLife, but I'll ask.

Jason has confirmed my assumption that providing proof of insurance when pulled over isn't a big deal. My concern is that the insurance companies will refuse to cover an honest, everyday, traffic accident on public roads.

So far, 2 different, local brokers (one small, the other is the largest in Keene, NH) have had no companies willing to write a policy. Actually, both have directly asked if either of the cars currently on my policy ever take part in any kind of competition (which they don't) as they'd have to cancel my policy.

Maybe I'm not using the correct terminology for the insurance people. I know insurance has it's own terms-of-art, but I don't know them.

Any additional referrals to agencies or companies would be greatly appreciated.

Paul

PS By the way, my driving and insurance records are quite clea. I've had one insurance in my life for a $1300 fender repair after a snow storm. The most recent speeding ticket was 5 years ago.
"Christina", New #13/#55x, '90 Miata: In progress
"Keiko", Old #13x/#55x, '96 Miata: R.I.P.
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Pascal
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Re: Insuring a hill climb car for the street

Post by Pascal »

Assuming you are just thinking of getting liability and not comprehensive coverage, I would think an insurance company would have a hard time denying a claim because of a roll-cage etc? Dropping you after a claim I can see though.

If your worried about it, maybe insure the Miata with a separate company so any issues would not effect any other policies you have. I've been happy with Geico for a few years now. Switched to them after having issues with two separate local insurance agents. The nice thing about using Geico (or another online type provider) is you can do everything online. Makes it easy to not mention racing at all if you dont have to speak to anyone.
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Re: Insuring a hill climb car for the street

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

I have been asked many times if I race any of our cars that are on the insurance policy.... I always am very truthful and say 'no'. Naturally, I do not expand on my response and explain that all of our events are time trials. "Races" in Vermont are taxable for the hosting organization, therefore, "time trial" and "race" are two different animals.

Semantics, I know.

I also don't worry about driving the car on the street that I bring to the hillclimbs....

Might be in the category of don't ask, don't tell.
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Re: Insuring a hill climb car for the street

Post by Chief Geek »

Update, with no good news.

After talking to 5 different insurance brokers and 4 online-based insurance companies (including MetLife), I've got nothing. Most said that they can't cover any street vehicle that ever competes in any racing or time-trial competition at any time. Most used the same terminology as if they were summarizing from the same book. The way they describe it, getting caught autoX-ing would void your policy on the spot, but I didn't ask directly.

Of all of the attempts, Progressive was the one that came closest to being reasonable. They also asked the most interesting questions like:

Q: Does money ever change hands?
A: No, the winner gets a plaque and a t-shirt.

Q: Do you compete head-to-head or against the clock?
A: Always against the clock, one competitor never sees another.

Sadly, they also denied to quote but did provide the most honest-sounding rationale of the bunch: they won't accept the risk of me 1) running out to talent on a hill and injuring someone, 2) pushing/dragging/sliding my piece of scrap metal into traffic, and 3) claiming it happened on a public road. It is plausible that some dirt bag actually did this and cost the insurance industry enough $ to get noticed. As with most things in life, it only takes a few knuckleheads to ruin the fun for everyone.

I may be left with only 2 options: A) don't tell them and hope I don't ever "really" need the insurance and B) buy a trailer.

Does anyone have any recommendations for make/model/specification of trailer that would be "appropriate" for using my Mazda2 to tow a Miata? The power to weight ratio (and brake-to-weight ratio) of Jamie's minivan + M3 can't be much different than a Mazda2 + Miata. (The 2 is slightly more powerful than the Miata, after all.)

Paul

P.S. Next time I talk to my Mom, I may have to support Dad's/Rich's "need" for a Kubota-sized trailer. The Miata is probably smaller and lighter than the Kubota in every respect. Actually, if things go poorly, we may wish we had the Kubota to get the Miata back onto the trailer.
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walterclark
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Re: Insuring a hill climb car for the street

Post by walterclark »

I just looked thru my MetLife auto policy and it no longer makes mention of competition in any way.
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Re: Insuring a hill climb car for the street

Post by honda#72 »

Chief Geek wrote: Does anyone have any recommendations for make/model/specification of trailer that would be "appropriate" for using my Mazda2 to tow a Miata? The power to weight ratio (and brake-to-weight ratio) of Jamie's minivan + M3 can't be much different than a Mazda2 + Miata. (The 2 is slightly more powerful than the Miata, after all.)
You need to remember that I installed a auxillary trans cooler and his is probably the only Honda Odyssey with trailer brakes. He is around 1300 lbs over the rating, and although we wished him luck no one from Honda thought he would even make it out to Pikes Peak let alone back, mostly due to the trans. Pre trailer brakes he was smoking his front pads and rotors very quickly, retail on only the front brake parts $450. Towing a load that is near or close to the tow vehicle may not be considered appropriate, but it is do-able. I personally would drive the car to events until you are commited enough and in the position to get a tow rig and set-up you'll be happy with for a while. I drove the car to events for 4 or 5 years and it sucked and was a pain at times but worth it in the long run, and glad i didnt try to tow with my ancient S10 and a cheap falling apart trailer, those first few years, becuase I never had a problem driving the car home, chances are all the failures I had with that old s10 likely would have happened towing, and it's easier to get a tow for one car, than a car, truck and trailer.
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Re: Insuring a hill climb car for the street

Post by Mopar 151w2 »

You may have some luck with Hagerty, who does collector car insurance - a quote from their website:
Need more information before getting a quote?
Learn about spare parts coverageLearn about automotive tools coverageView our general guidelines FAQsLearn about which vehicles qualify for our Motorsports programMotorsports coverage
Hagerty offers affordable off-track motorsports vehicle coverage. We understand the subtleties of value, care and use of motorsports vehicles that conventional providers don’t.

It’s affordable
For less than a set of race tires you can be covered for an entire year. Coverage includes extra features designed exclusively for motorsports vehicles. (Please note: Guaranteed Value coverage does not include liability.)

Everywhere but the track
We’ll cover your car while it’s being trailered to a race, in the paddock, in storage, even for a parade lap or two. We just don’t cover your vehicle when it’s racing. Even street-legal, dual-purpose vehicles, can be considered for coverage.

Knowledgeable claims handling
Our experience with classic vehicles gives us a special understanding of the needs of your car. For example, we let you choose the repair shop, or we’ll pay you to make the repairs yourself. And we have a Parts Specialist whose only job is tracking down the perfect replacement part.

Cars we love
We’re looking for motorsports vehicles of high quality condition that hold or increase value within the marketplace. Each vehicle is individually underwritten. Generally, we avoid vehicles used by professional race teams or with nitrous systems. But no two cases are the same. Talk to us.

or Grundy Insurancehttp://www.grundy.com/ I did not find specific info on dual-purpose cars, but Grundy will write ON-TRACK insurance for vintage racing, and sponsors events with an included autocross.
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