[Tim]

This topic has been discussed at length for a long time on a lot of boards. Kurt is right as far as my lawyerly eye can see. An insurance policy covers all damage EXCEPT that which is excepted or "carved out" of the general coverage. Exception have to be specifically spelled out. USAA Virginia has no such carve out; what they except is racing and practicing for racing and (I believe) all timed events. I have no race license. I therefore CANNOT be racing. I therefore cannot be practicing and DEs are not time events. I am confident they would cover me. Furthermore, should they decline I would start making noises about bad faith denial in which case I am pretty sure they would pony up. If they didn't and I won the claim, I get triple damages, plus they get to incur the expenses of an insurance commission investigation. They won't want that at all.

In the end, it is a state-by-state issue. Plus the policy can be changed at any time. So read your policies CAREFULLY, if you aren't sure, a lawyer will probably be better than an agent. Furthermore, some of these carveouts are VERY broad and could conceiveably cover damage to your vehicle while in the parking lot even if you are a non-participant as they exclude ALL damages that arise while on the property of a motorsports park. So, again READ YOUR POLICY CAREFULLY.

One question that has been raised by USAA is where is the instructor. So, always have an instructor. White, Black and Red should just get someone to ride along for instruction one or more sessions.

[TD in DC]

Originally Posted by Tim

This topic has been discussed at length for a long time on a lot of boards. Kurt is right as far as my lawyerly eye can see. An insurance policy covers all damage EXCEPT that which is excepted or "carved out" of the general coverage. Exception have to be specifically spelled out. USAA Virginia has no such carve out; what they except is racing and practicing for racing and (I believe) all timed events. I have no race license. I therefore CANNOT be racing. I therefore cannot be practicing and DEs are not time events. I am confident they would cover me. Furthermore, should they decline I would start making noises about bad faith denial in which case I am pretty sure they would pony up. If they didn't and I won the claim, I get triple damages, plus they get to incur the expenses of an insurance commission investigation. They won't want that at all.

In the end, it is a state-by-state issue. Plus the policy can be changed at any time. So read your policies CAREFULLY, if you aren't sure, a lawyer will probably be better than an agent. Furthermore, some of these carveouts are VERY broad and could conceiveably cover damage to your vehicle while in the parking lot even if you are a non-participant as they exclude ALL damages that arise while on the property of a motorsports park. So, again READ YOUR POLICY CAREFULLY.

One question that has been raised by USAA is where is the instructor. So, always have an instructor. White, Black and Red should just get someone to ride along for instruction one or more sessions.

All true, but I still think that it is worth it to document when people from USAA or any other insurance company orally tell you that DEs are covered. Sure, they might not have the authority to speak on behalf of the company, but it may help in negotiations if it all goes south (e.g., detrimental reliance). Just write a note to yourself summarizing date, time, representatives name and what they said. File it away. 99% chance that you will never need it. If you do, it will have been worth the 5 minutes it took you to write the note.

[Tim]

I don't disagree. At the end of the day, though, it is what is in the policy that counts.

[Mark in Baltimore]

Originally Posted by 87turbolook911

I'm with Statefarm for the regular insurance, and had my agent (a relative) check about DE coverage. Her underwriter said if the car is on the track then it wouldn't be covered. Although I'm sure my aunt would fight for me in a claim, instead of taking a chance, I purchased DE coverage from American Classic prior to the last DE. I overnighted them my application and they called me Saturday morning to tell me I was all set and the policy was in place. I was very impressed.

Vu,

I specifically moved from Geico to State Farm last year after I heard that SF does, in fact, cover DE's at least in Maryland. I even had my agent draft up a letter attesting to this coverage (no timed events). Yes, I know the agent's letter is not as strong as an underwriting approval but he did check with someone so his a** was covered.

But just two weeks ago, I elected to switch everything back over to Geico (cars, homeowner's, rental properties) and, as the commercial beats us with, saved a bunch of money with Geico, almost $1300 per year. Geico says they will not cover DE's but I, too, purchased ACI insurance for a catastrophic loss. Even if I were still with SF, I would self-insure myself for "minor" (less than $5,000) accidents, lest I be dropped for both of my vehicles. Under this approach I figured why not just pay the $500 per year for the DE insurance and have some peace of mind that my car would be covered, less the 20% deductible of course.

We'll see how it works out over the next twelve months...