Life insurance

[col rooney]

Hi just wondering who does good cover for car racing at the moment i have been paying near on £100 a month and i only do around 8 to 10 races a year so that cost me near on £1,200 just so im cover so that my kids would still have a roof over ther heads if any thing was to go wrong

thanks col

[JohnMiller]

Whether that's good value depends on the terms, age, health and smoking status.

Any decent IFA will be able to guide you to a company that will likely be sympathetic premium- and exclusion-wise to your hobby ... but there is nil chance of me giving you that information for free.

[JohnD]

When I started motorsport, in the 90's, I wrote to ask the holders of my life policies if I would be covered. The gritted teeth came through on the typrewritten page that said, Yes, we weren't thinking about that sort of thing when you took out the policies (in the early 80's)
Are dangerous sports now routinely excluded?

John

[col rooney]

Yes dangerous sports are an easy way of making money by the looks of it .To be honest about it if i cant get cover at a half decent price im just going to pack it in if i work it out to do 8 races a year is costing me £150 a race to be insured .I know we all need it but it just takes the fun out of racing when you look at it on a race by race

col

[mountainstar]

Still I think it is necessary to have something, in the rare chance one is injured or killed. I thought in the UK the MSA had some insurance included now with the race licence? I know a few years ago they did anyways.

My health insurance now excludes me for any track events, so I plan on having some cover now when I participate in such activities.

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by JohnD

)
Are dangerous sports now routinely excluded?

John

and the funny part is, I bet it is more dangerous driving in the rush hour traffic around any large city then it is racing.

[GordonG]

I'm no expert, but I think many types of life and health insurance ask questions about your lifestyle when you take out the policy, but if those details change you have no need to inform them and they cannot change the premiums.

You do need to be honest, but if you took out cover in a year when you werent racing and didnt have a race license, it might not be a problem if you had a change of heart and resumed racing later.

my other half made me check with all my various life and health insurers and they all came back as no problem about the racing as I wasnt doing it when they started. One was close, as they made a point of noting that my license application was a couple of weeks after my insurance application (not intentional, honest!).

You do need to check your individual policies though.

G

[ianpearson]

i did get offered life insurance for £26 a month to pay off my mortgage if i copped it, it would of been £6 per month if i did not race cars. Considering the chances of being killed racing, compared to being killed on the road getting there or popped of in the street on a night out are highly more likely i thought it was a rip off. I am only 27 so i am fairly low risk

[mountainstar]

Me personally I don't have life insurance as I do not have dependents or property other than a car. I don't see the next for it.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by GordonG

I'm no expert, but I think many types of life and health insurance ask questions about your lifestyle when you take out the policy, but if those details change you have no need to inform them and they cannot change the premiums.

You do need to be honest, but if you took out cover in a year when you werent racing and didnt have a race license, it might not be a problem if you had a change of heart and resumed racing later.

I was told the same thing too. Its definitely worth checking with your provider on this.

[Tim Falce]

My wife took out insurance on my life when we took a mortgage out. I declared the type of tracing I did and it made no difference to the price of £10 per month.
I tried to get her insured but as she had previously suffered from cancer the policy for her was £128. I also had an existing policy for her which was taken out in 1989 @£5 per month. She rides a horse and has ended up in hospital 3 times and needed dental surgery on one occasion due to her hobby, so far with mine all that has been injured is my pride.
One thing col rooney, you don't mention what the payout would be if the worst happened, maybe that has something to do with the premium.

[col rooney]

Hi i have a life policy that goes with my mortgage but that does not cover me for racing .The policy for racing would pay out i think £150,000 so it probly not that bad to have to pay £100 a month was just wondering if there is a company that insure you for the races you do and not for the full year when we realy only race for 8 months

col

[Tim Falce]

My life policy taken out in 89 is £24 PM with an at death payout of £80,000, although it is an assurance policy which will pay out when I die, no matter what age I am. All that is assuming I keep up the payments.

[mark77]

I've a joint life policy with my wife £37 per month for £100,000 - declared motor racing and price remained the same

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by col rooney

Hi i have a life policy that goes with my mortgage but that does not cover me for racing .The policy for racing would pay out i think £150,000 so it probly not that bad to have to pay £100 a month was just wondering if there is a company that insure you for the races you do and not for the full year when we realy only race for 8 months

col

First how old are you Col ? If you're not that old, then the best thing to do is to take out a new 'level term' policy for a period of 25 years that will pay out in the event that you die during that time. Its the critical period during which your kids will be dependent on you and your mortgage will be live. After that big payouts on your death are probably less relevant. If you're under 35, you should be able to take out a GBP1M policy, that will allow you to race, for less than GBP100/month.

[col rooney]

I will be the big 40 in september i will try the GBP1M policy and see what they say

thanks for all the help

col

[davyboy]

Congrats on being 40 ! Makes me feel even worse knowing that Dan had a son older than me when I was racing against him back in the 1980s.

[rescue dude]

You lot want to try and explain motorsport marshalling to an insurance company!!!!

I used to just say parachuting because it came in the same category anyway and they understood that.

[steveng]

Over 4,000 MSA licence holders in UK. About 3 killed per year. The odds of getting killed are low. The insurance costs do not reflect that. Interestingly the stats suggest coastal angling is the most dangerous sport in UK ( I guess they fall in-or die of boredom...). Like you I took out life insurance for racing at very high cost, almost as much as the entry fees. When I moaned to TL Clowes i was told the premiums were high due to 9/11. I didn't see many racing drivers in the Twin Towers but there you are....I noticed like many others above that my normal life insurance taken out as a young man did not specify that I would not be covered for racing. I have given up the racing insurance but do take out critical illness cover, worth it I think, as I might hurt my hands or something, I'm a surgeon so they are kind off useful. This also covers me falling out of the truck or running over my foot or any other silly accidents that may stop me working.

[Bob Pearson]

I think the key to the discussion is in what Steve just said, "what are the odds?" I have been in single seaters for 21 years this August, during that time, as you can imagine, I have known many, many drivers. Of them, 4 have died of cancer, 1 killed in a road accident, none killed racing. Prior to single seaters I raced sidecars, that, regrettably was a much different situation.

[mountainstar]

Isn't there still insurance included in your RACMSA licence?

[Bob Pearson]

There is someting included in the Licence, I am not sure what. Renault have just provided some kind of free personal accident insurance for us in our registration fee, I haven't seen details yet

[JohnD]

See Section W, about half way through the Blue Book, thanks to the shuffle that has been given to the chapters for some reason. Paras 2, Personal Accident.
Officials, and I hope that includes marshals, get £65K on death. Licence holders, £10K. Pro rata for lesser events. You are also covered for third party claims, by the MSA's public liability policy, but ONLY on private land, not on public roads.

John
(Regs anorak)

[esper]

this is an item which will become more and more important , as you do something special, not dangerous soccer or whatever you will pay.
so far my life insurance even will pay when I commit suicide , so no problem I guess?

[Al Weyman]

At this rate it will end up only old buggers like me who have no dependant kids and stacks of equity in a paid off property that will be able to race. I used to play rugby, only for 4 or 5 years and I still bear the scars and pain 34 years after I finished with the silly game, all I have done in motorsport is whack me thumb and given myself a sore neck. The worst injury was probably the other year when my son in law dropped the winch handle on my head and cut and blacked my eye while I was tying the car down (won't happen again with my nice 6 wheeler Brian James as you lash down on the tyres from the top)!