Nürburgring and insurance

[Jon_H]

Having been doing a bit of research, I'm basically resigned to having no car insurance whilst on the 'Ring during my upcoming trip, and no medical insurance bar an EHIC card.

But just in case, can anyone provide links and typical prices for any insurers who will cover either me or my car on the Nordschleife?

Obviously I don't plan to drive like a tw@t, but there's always the other guy who does, and either hits me or I get caught up in his accident...

[joney]

there are a few companies that will cover you who are specialist trackday insurers; I'd google that for a starting point. As a guide a friend of mine who looked into it found out it was about £100 for a day for his 306 gti6.

IMO it's not worth the outlay for insurance as the excess is huge, and you could reshell your car for very little more than the excess, plus it's an incentive to not drive like a dick, and to not race other cars who are faster than you! ;)

If you are worried about getting home in the event of a shunt I'd also suggest getting ADAC Plus cover (German AA) which is 78 EUROs according to Ben Lovejoy's website http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/adac.html, for the year which give european cover, and unlike the bastards in our country will help you out in the event of a crash on the ring!! It's 175 Euros just to get off the track BTW, so if you do need a truck you'd be very pleased to have this cover... they'll get your car home if need be as well- three cheers for German efficiency :thumbs:

I'd defo recommend breakdown cover over insurance any day :)

[superkev11]

I was impressed with mondial breakdown cover. Recovered my car from there to home and sorted a hire car for me to get back in! It cost them thousands to get it back! I have destroyed my car on the ring, I was over confident and I paid the price. Even a pro race driver has a bad day and will crash. Bear in mind if you push hard it can happen to anyone. Do you want to risk you car on this dangerous curcuit? At best it could cost thousands (me 7295 for my w reg car, 2000 for damage to the track and the embarasment of driving a vauxhall nova!), at worst it could kill you. It is amazing though and one day I may go back (in something cheaper).

[Ican]

I was speaking to somebody at the ring last weekend who got car insurance cover from Adac at £27 per day that covers him on the ring. When I asked for precise details he couldn't say because his wife sorted it out. :rolleyes:

Adac do car insurance for members so it is worth giving them a ring to see if it is possible to get cover for the ring. :nod:
http://www.adac.de/mitgliedschaft_leistungen/ihre_mitgliedschaft/membership/Safety_across_the_board/default.asp?ComponentID=28393&SourcePageID=146356

[Jon_H]

I'm looking into ADAC breakdown, but there's a note on Ben Lovejoy's site which says that they may no longer do the free tow off the 'Ring.

I've emailed them but had no response yet - can anyone confirm or deny?

[Ican]

That's what I heard this weekend as well but I was told if you send them the €175 bill they will reimburse you. You should still confirm this yourself with them before you buy.

I think there is now an exclusive contract in place on the ring and the tow driver that's got it is a bit of a c@nt. A British driver in a Volvo blew his engine and dumped a load of oil on the ring. When the tow driver picked them up he also picked up a German biker that had an off who sat up front with tow driver.

What ever the conversation they had when they arrived back to the entrance the German biker was blaming them for causing his accident by leaving oil on the track. :mad:
Luckily the marshals were having none of it and told the British driver he could go and the biker to stay to talk to the police.

In the meantime while this was going on the tow driver decided onto him self to take the car back to his yard when he had been asked to leave it at the entrance. For this he demanded fees over €200 plus €15 storage per day, they told him to stuff it in the end and left him the car. :(

[pdh 14a]

I went out last year and we were behind a mate in a £2k BMW who was taking it easy (honestly we were behind him at 20mph) he had the back end come out,he panicked slammed on the anchors hit the grass then a barrier, put it this way his weekend cost him £4500 so try and get insurance :thumbs:

[tallpaul]

Technically, the Nurburgring is a one-way public toll road, so "in theory" your insurance should be valid. When I crashed there last year, the guys in the office who took my credit card details for the section of barrier I had supposedly damaged (455 Euros) kept telling me I can claim it back from my UK insurer. I had to pay for the barrier on the spot, with my credit card. All the receipts I got have got "Nurburgring" written in big letters all over them, so it might be difficult getting them to actually pay out!
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f373/DrFox/bill.jpg
I think I got off quite lightly, if I'd had a big crash, dumped a load of fluids on the track, caused a few other crashes & had to have the circuit closed for any length of time, my bill could easily have run into thousands!:eek:
One of the guys I was out there with got knocked off his bike by a German Imprezza driver, the police were called by the marshalls immediately and they escorted my friend and the driver to the police station. The bike was a write-off, the Germans insurance paid out no problem. So, fingers crossed, all should be well!:wack:

[scooba]

:sxoc: trip to nurburg ring!! Id be up for that!!!

When i was last planning a trip there, i found out my insurance didnt cover me on the track OR on the Autobahn roads!!
But thats something extra to check up on.... i think it was classed as a limitless road?!?

[superkev11]

That's what I heard this weekend as well but I was told if you send them the €175 bill they will reimburse you. You should still confirm this yourself with them before you buy.

I think there is now an exclusive contract in place on the ring and the tow driver that's got it is a bit of a c@nt. A British driver in a Volvo blew his engine and dumped a load of oil on the ring. When the tow driver picked them up he also picked up a German biker that had an off who sat up front with tow driver.

What ever the conversation they had when they arrived back to the entrance the German biker was blaming them for causing his accident by leaving oil on the track. :mad:
Luckily the marshals were having none of it and told the British driver he could go and the biker to stay to talk to the police.

In the meantime while this was going on the tow driver decided onto him self to take the car back to his yard when he had been asked to leave it at the entrance. For this he demanded fees over €200 plus €15 storage per day, they told him to stuff it in the end and left him the car. :(

If the guy is the same one as I dealt with he was desparately trying to keep hold of my car. Lucky Mondial paid for the storage fees and recovered the car back to the UK.

[Jason W]

ADAC EU breakdown cover is well worth investing in as they will give you a free tow off the ring should the worst happen + recover your car back to the UK, and all for less than £75 pa!

To actually answer your question, Competition Car Insurance do seperate cover for the ring. Cost for 2.5 days on the last trip was £180 iirc. They cover my track car (for a paltry £350 pa) which includes 5 track days, but interestingly the Ring is specifically excluded. Their number is 0115 9415255.

[Jon_H]

Thanks for all the responses!

I've had a few calls to ADAC, and it seems they no longer recover from the 'Ring itself, although they might still be worth going with assuming they'll get the car home once it's off the 'Ring. I'm chasing up their trackday insurance, but it's not sounding promising.

I've just had a response from CCI, so we'll see what they come up with for my quote.

[Jon_H]

Right, all sorted (or as much as it's going to be).

* CCI are covering the car, £151 for three stated sessions, value of £5500 covered with a 10% excess.
* Extreme Plus are providing a year's trackday personal accident insurance, unlimited trackdays for £60.

Not exactly cheap, but should allow me to relax a bit and enjoy the trip! :thumbs:

[Jason W]

If this is your first trip to the ring then the very last thing you're going to do is relax!

On a serious note, if this is your first trip and you've never driven the track before, I can't recommend enough going out on a sighting lap with someone who knows the circuit. I did this in my mate's tuned VXR220 and it seriously messed with my head! There are so many 100+mph blind crests that, even as a passenger, you'll be doing well not to crawl into the footwell and assuming the foetal position. Speaking from personal experience, if you're in a 300 Bhp/Tonne Elise type effort piloted by someone with 50+ laps of 'ring experience, you'll find yourself in an involuntary faecal position, most likely sucking your thumb :-P

[WeirdNeville]

Technically, the Nurburgring is a one-way public toll road, so "in theory" your insurance should be valid. When I crashed there last year, the guys in the office who took my credit card details for the section of barrier I had supposedly damaged (455 Euros) kept telling me I can claim it back from my UK insurer. I had to pay for the barrier on the spot, with my credit card. All the receipts I got have got "Nurburgring" written in big letters all over them, so it might be difficult getting them to actually pay out!


I just got my new insurance policy through - it specifically EXCLUDES use of the Nurburgring! So do check, don't assume. Obviously the insurers are getting wise to this and don't like getting tapped up for new Armco in Germany.