NOTHING TO FEAR FROM VNUK
Insurers and motor sport bodies say UK enthusiasts and teams will not face higher costs
The terms of the Vnuk Judgement will not cause insurance premiums to rise for enthusiasts and motor sport teams for the time being – even though the UK chose to ignore it on 21 February, after leaving the EU.
Vnuk terms – requiring all vehicles to have comprehensive cover regardless of whether they are on private or public land – have not yet been applied to any EU country’s insurance policies. Concern grew among enthusiasts taking their cars abroad (and UK racing teams wanting to compete in the EU) that the cost of adjustment to existing UK policies would be high when applied overseas.
Insurers say that policies insuring UK classics taken overseas won’t rise until Vnuk is applied in the EU – but that they will have to re-assess the situation when the time comes.
Adrian Flux general manager, Gerry Bucke, said: ‘It shouldn’t make any difference to travel in EU countries as it stands because they still haven’t applied Vnuk. However, normal motorists would have been stung with insurance increases if it had become law as the Motor Insurers’ Bureau would have had to pick up liability claims around anything from a kid’s ride-on electric car to F1 accidents.’
Lancaster Insurance’s senior operations manager, Andrew Evanson, added: ‘If the Vnuk judgement had come in, we don’t expect that classic car insurance premiums would have been impacted drastically. Classic car policies can be looked at differently to everyday cover, taking into consideration a number of factors such as usage and if the customer wants limited mileage, an agreed value option or if they are a club member.’
Motorsport UK assured CCW that it had the full backing of motor sport governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) to secure exemptions from the Vnuk Judgement when it is eventually written into EU insurance law.
Its CEO, Hugh Chambers, said: ‘We already have a very good insurance protocol and £100m of public liability insurance for participants and the public – the highest anywhere in the world. We saw Brexit as the golden opportunity to get the government to walk away from Vnuk. It remains an unnecessary piece of legislation and has removed an existential threat.
‘We are still working with the FIA to help them lobby European lawmakers to argue the case that motor sport should be exempt.’
mib.org.uk motorsportuk.org