HIC offer insurance to banger ralliers

Apparently, more and more people are taking part in 'Banger rallies' - getting an old car and driving it, with a few mates, halfway across Europe.

More than thirty set off from the UK each year. There are usually a large variety of vehicles taking part, all of which have only one thing in common - they are worth next to nothing.

Typically, banger rally rules don't allow you to spend more than £100 on a car that will have to go across Europe on a testing route that takes in every type of driving, from motorways to mountains.

Problems arise when entrants try to insure their clapped-out old wreck. After all, it's for a rally, it's usually overseas and it's likely the insurance will only be needed for a short time.

Not surprisingly, most insurers are reluctant to insure a virtual write-off, or, if the team can get cover, they find it's pretty expensive.

However, motoring insurance specialist HIC has introduced a 'short-term banger rally insurance' scheme that makes it a lot easier and cheaper for these 'wacky racers' to get the requisite cover.

The HIC policy is flexible enough to cover not only the variety of cars that enter rallies, but also the different amounts of time that teams want to spend on their trip.

For example, the rally may last four days, after which some teams will want to sell the car and fly home. However, others will want to drive back, either straight away or by taking a leisurely fortnight (or more) over the trip.

"We think we've covered all the angles," says Andy Morton of HIC. "Our policy covers just about any (road-legal) car, meets all the regulations, charges only for the amount of time that's needed and can include a team of up to four drivers. Plus, it's cheap.

"We've been able to call on personal experience in putting together the policy - several of us made up an HIC team to take part in banger rallies. The first one we did was a gruelling 1800 miles and now we're pretty confident we know the score!" he added.