Do you take your license plate off at the track and why?

[Grip Addict]

Everyone has heard the urban legends of insurance adjusters at the track waiting to revoke your insurance because you drove on the track, but do you actually take your plate off and does that urban legend influence you?

[Ximian]

No and no.

[ricardofors68]

I don't take the tags with me, they stay at home.

[roastbeef]

i leave the plate on. doesn't matter. their insurance isn't valid on the track, so i don't think they would care. thats what track insurance is for.

[admranger]

I use mine to tattoo the bumper of the 600hp+ cars that tiptoe through corners.

I leave mine on b/c changing tires is enough work for me at the track. I don't need to make extra things up to do.

If you're worried, slap some painters tape over your plates.

[CorruptCommie]

Nah, the Porsche's love seeing this after they give the point by.

[Chris_PDX]

I run no front plate, and my rear plate is held on by one of those uber strong dealer magnets. I take it off at the track when I remember.

[macdude357]

I take off my front plate on hot days since it blocks flow to my oil cooler.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by Grip Addict

Everyone has heard the urban legends of insurance adjusters at the track waiting to revoke your insurance because you drove on the track, but do you actually take your plate off and does that urban legend influence you?

Insurance companies have better things to do than sit at tracks and figure out who's who and revoke policies. They don't cover you there anyway and cannot just arbitrarily revoke the coverage for being there. I don't even know where this myth started -- I have NEVER heard of this happening to anyone except those who try to commit fraud by claiming they wrecked the car somewhere else.

You can bet that if you try to defraud them by wrecking on track and claiming it on your road insurance, they will investigate if you were there. Short of wearing a mask and anonymizing your name on registrations, liability forms, etc., they'll eventually figure it out.

So no, I don't take off my plate. My insurer doesn't care what I do there.

[Type_Yarr]

^I'd recommend reading your individual policy and looking for the Exclusions, Prohibited Use, and Termination clauses. A well experienced autocrosser in our local club did some research after a large national insurer told him that he had to remove a car from his coverage when it came up that he autocrosses it. He was able to get coverage through another large insurer, but he did some research.

In Alberta (which I assume uses similar regulatory wording to other provinces/states to keep it simple for insurers), the Standard Automobile Policy allows insurers the explicit right to terminate the policy if the insured participates in, or allows the insured vehicle to participate in, any Prohibited Use. Prohibited Use including any race or speed test, and/or operating it at a racetrack.

Long and the short of it is that in Canada, and I assume it's similar in the US, unless you have disclosed that you track/autocross your vehicle, and have obtained a specific endorsement on your policy, your regular road insurance can be voided just for participating in an event. Many insurers have no issue with adding the endorsement as long as you supply the obvious acknowledgement of ‘Coverage Exclusion during Racing / Competition’.

And it's not just an urban legend about insurers photographing license plates. That happened 20 years ago with a different local autocross club after some dumbass tried to make a fraudulent claim after he crashed at an event. Over the next few events, everyone who was with that same insurer received a letter terminating their policy.

That said, I discussed it with my insurer and they had no issue. They said they didn't need an endorsement form, but I pushed to get it noted on the policy because you never know what a claim adjuster may try on some future legitimate claim.

[1MOREMOD]

No its already off at home also

[bigjae1976]

I take mine off to save weight.

I don't think it really matters. I'd consider taking it off so you don't lose it.

[spxxx]

I take mine off not because of adjusters at the track but because of the explosion of photographers and postings on social media. Imagine you get into an incident driving home after a long day at the track (god forbid near the track) - It'd be pretty easy for an adjuster to look at the claim date on your sports car and then search for local events / photos online. Voila sees your car and plate on track from IG which gives him an excuse/evidence to deny your claim or cancel coverage.


Maybe I'm just paranoid...

[VictorH]

Originally Posted by spxxx

I take mine off not because of adjusters at the track but because of the explosion of photographers and postings on social media. Imagine you get into an incident driving home after a long day at the track (god forbid near the track) - It'd be pretty easy for an adjuster to look at the claim date on your sports car and then search for local events / photos online. Voila sees your car and plate on track from IG which gives him an excuse/evidence to deny your claim or cancel coverage.


Maybe I'm just paranoid...

Same here, but I don't take it off, just tape it over with blue painters tape, that way if I need to go on a gas run (frequently) just pull off the tape in one block, get gas, and put it back on when I get back.

[M3 Number 86]

I take it since I don't want pics videos of it on track but this time I forgot. But no more warranty so fuck it.

[Visceral]

The front plate uses the tow-hook receptacle, so I take it out, and then leave the rear.

If an insurance carrier cancels me, thats actually good news. I'd prefer they show me their cards before there are issues. I'm late 40's, clean record for the whole family, and 6 vehicles. They arent looking for excuses to cancel me.

[Dr. Dre]

I would say the only reason to remove the plates would be if your car was still under warranty. I restricted a lot of warranties when I worked for Mitsubishi Motors NA.

Idiots drag racing. When they tear up the drive train they claim the car is a piece of junk if you didn't cover the warranty.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by Visceral

I'm late 40's, clean record for the whole family, and 6 vehicles. They arent looking for excuses to cancel me.

this. i have seven policies they would have to pull the plug on... and i get track insurance, so i don't need them (i asked and they won't cover hpde).