International motorsport saved from VNUK insurance rules

FOR some time now, motorsport in the UK and Europe has been in a state of limbo thanks to EU legislators wanting to impose controversial insurance laws for motorsport vehicles.

VNUK, had it been passed, would have meant any vehicles moving between the UK (including Northern Ireland) and mainland Europe would have had to carry some form of insurance. That’s regardless of whether or not the vehicle was to be used for racing and on private land.

The farcical idea was already shot down by UK Transport Secretary Grant Schapps, who stated in February this year that the UK Government had no intention of implementing the ‘over-the-top’ law. Now it seems that legislators have seen sense, as over the weekend The EU Commission yesterday announced they would exclude all vehicles intended exclusively for motorsport from new insurance rules.

What does VNUK mean?

Damijan Vnuk was working on a farm in Slovenia when the barn he was in was struck by a trailer attached to a reversing tractor. His case was referred to the European Court of Justice where insurers believed there was no compulsory insurance requirement. The thinking was that because the tractor was being used as a machine, not a vehicle, and was on private land at the time, compulsory insurance was not required.

The EU’s blanket solution was to force all vehicles – tractors, ride-on lawnmowers, 450cc trials bikes, 1,000cc trackday motorcycles – to carry a mandatory amount of insurance to cover such incidents.

Thanks fully for us, competition-only motorcycles, practice bikes and trackday machines look to was swerved this!