It may be thought that a race team will be at such a high risk that no insurance company will touch them. That is not the case, though, because insurance companies are in business to make money, and many of them will not pass on an easy premium like this. But who insures race drivers and their cars?
Many different companies around the country will insure the drivers, teams, and cars of every type of racing imaginable. They can be very expensive policies that cover every aspect of the racing team, on and off the main race tracks.
You must realize that most of the time the cars are being transported from one track to another, presenting some serious time on the highways where an accident could occur. And let’s face it, when you are driving in a race, the old adage of “bumping is racing” leads to damage to the car even if you are lucky enough to come out of the race without any type of incident.
Driver And Pit Crew Health Insurance
The drivers, and the teams that back the driver, are all employees of the owners that run the crew. This means that there will be some type of health plan in place to cover any injuries that may occur while on the race track or while in transit from one track to the other.
This type of insurance can be costly for an employee, but when the job is such a high risk, it is an expense that all team owners have come to expect to pay. The great thing about this is that even if the injury is career-ending, most of the time, any bills related to that injury will be covered for the rest of the driver’s life. Not a great trade-off, but at least it is something.
Car And Equipment
If you have ever watched a race up close, you know that damage to the car is inevitable. It is also not uncommon to see some equipment harmed while the vehicle is in the pits. The thing about this is that when the team owners compare car insurance policies from various companies, they already know what needs to be covered the most and what can be set aside for a later date.
For example, the car and the car jacks will need to be insured no matter what, while the tools in the garage may only need to be insured against theft or loss. There are so many aspects of racing that need to be addressed, which is why the teams will find a good insurance company to work through and never change once they have a good working relationship.
The main thing that you will see the crews doing is making repairs on their own. After all, they all have shops for a reason. The mechanics and body specialists that are part of the team behind the team will do all the work at their given pay rates. When damage is done to the car or truck, they will fix it. That is important for the insurance company covering them to know because it means that all they have to cover when a claim is filed will be the cost of the parts.
Conclusion
Since every race car driver and team has sponsors that foot the primary amount of the bills, you may not think that they would need any type of insurance. Except, perhaps, to cover any medical bills that may occur during an accident on the track. The truth is, though, that every racing team has an insurance policy, not just one that covers damage on the track.
Without a good insurance policy in place, the racing team will be dead in the water, no matter how good they are. That is not to say that they could not continue to run on the tracks with the rest of the drivers, but if they did, they would have to expect some serious money to be needed out of pocket. It is simply better for them to find an insurance company willing to work with them and pay the premiums as they go.