The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) has announced the creation of a dedicated task force to examine soaring insurance costs in motor sport, a move that will resonate with insurers and brokers far beyond the racing circuit.
The new Motorsport Insurance Task Force, unveiled by FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, will be led by Secretary Generals Valerio Iachizzi (Sport) and Willem Groenewald (Mobility and Sustainability). Its remit includes assessing the sharp rise in premiums, the tightening of available cover, and the diminishing appetite of insurers to underwrite high-severity racing risks. An interim report is expected at the FIA’s annual assembly in Tashkent later this year.
“Our Members are at the heart of everything we do at the FIA,” Ben Sulayem said. “Rising insurance costs risk limiting opportunities and undermining accessibility across the world. To address this, we must work hand in hand with our Clubs, insurers, and local authorities to deliver solutions that keep our sport safe, fair, and sustainable for all.”
While the FIA’s announcement is aimed at the racing sector, the themes will feel familiar to Canadian motor insurers grappling with their own cost crisis. In Canada, passenger vehicle premiums climbed nearly 10 per cent in 2024, with claims ratios hitting more than 90 per cent by the third quarter. Theft claims alone exceeded $1.5-billion in 2023, and repair inflation has pushed parts and labour costs up by more than 20 per cent since 2019.
That context makes the FIA’s intervention noteworthy. Motorsport insurance sits at the extreme end of severity and volatility, but the underlying drivers—complex technology, catastrophic loss potential, and regulatory scrutiny—mirror the cost pressures reshaping Canada’s mainstream auto market.
For Canadian underwriters and brokers, the FIA’s initiative may provide useful benchmarks on how to structure cover for high-risk activities. If the task force succeeds in identifying clearer metrics for affordability, claims management, or loss prevention, those lessons could inform broader approaches to cost containment in Canada’s regulated provincial markets.
The initiative also underscores the importance of engagement with governments and regulators. Groenewald highlighted the FIA’s experience in mobility, noting that affordability and consumer protection in transport policy can be applied directly to motorsport. Canadian insurers, facing strict provincial oversight on rate filings, will recognise the value of aligning with regulators on systemic solutions rather than pursuing piecemeal fixes.
The FIA task force will not deliver immediate relief, but it signals a recognition that without active engagement from insurers and policymakers, rising premiums risk undermining participation in racing worldwide. For Canadian insurers, the development is a reminder that cost inflation in auto insurance is neither local nor isolated. Whether in grassroots rallies or daily commutes, the sustainability of motor risk transfer increasingly hinges on global coordination, innovation in product design, and disciplined underwriting.
