Text took from Ben Lovejoys Excellent and informative Ringers Website
http://nurburgring.org.uk
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Once upon a time, you could drive the Ring safe in the knowledge that it is a public road and therefore your fully-comp insurance applied exactly as if you were on the M25.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]These days[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif], the rules have changed. The increasing popularity of the Ring, and the substantial number of crashes there, put the Ring firmly onto the radar of insurance companies. [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Almost all UK insurers now exclude the Ring.[/FONT]
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The policy wordings vary. [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Some insurers exclude 'de-restricted toll roads'. And if you were planning to point out the speed-limits at Breidscheid and on the approach to the cones, well, good luck unless your crash happens on one of those short stretches ... [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Other policies[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
state that any road which is at any time used as a race-track is excluded.[/FONT]
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Yet others state that they cover only 'normal road driving' - and even the most creative lawyer would have a tough time persuading a court that lapping the Ring amounts to normal driving. Especially after the insurance company has introduced a Top Gear episode or two into evidence. [/FONT]
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Even if your policy appears to be ok, I think these days you have to be prepared for your insurer to use any excuse they can to avoid paying-out if you end up taking your car home in a couple of carrier-bags. At the very least, it is likely to be an expensive and time-consuming battle. [/FONT]
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I thus strongly recommend that you consider your vehicle uninsured on the Ring, and drive/ride accordingly. The reasons to be sensible, and to drive well within your limits, have never been stronger.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]There are companies[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
which offer track cover. These policies are expensive (£250/day is pretty typical), and often have high excesses and low maximums (for example, an excess of £5,000 and a maximum payout of £20,000). If you're interested in one of these, take a look at the ads in the back of the main performance car magazines. [/FONT]
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You should also make sure that you have personal medical cover: German hospitals are extremely good, but also extremely expensive. Bikers should ensure that their travel insurance covers motorcycling, as many policies exclude bikes over 125cc. I have an Amex policy which costs me £99 a year for worldwide cover. The advantage of Amex is that hospitals everywhere will know immediately that it's fine, so there won't be any delay in treatment.[/FONT]
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Finally, remember European breakdown cover. Some policies (eg. Green Flag) give you European cover automatically, others don't. Note that AA 5-Star specifically excludes the Ring (item 4 in the general terms & conditions). To indicate why you want European breakdown cover, I once had a clutch fail in Belgium. Green Flag had to pay for immediate recovery from the motorway, recovery from a local depot to Calais, recovery from Dover to the specialist in London and a hire car to get me home. I don't know what the total bill came to, but I saw the paperwork for the Belgium to Calais recovery: €1300 (about £850)! The total bill is likely to have reached four figures.[/FONT]
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