Comment on Win win
applebusch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 days agoJust a reminder that insurance is a scam. You are compelled to pay for it under penalty of law in the case of car insurance, and the insurance companies do everything possible to maximize their profits, being for profit companies. What this means in general is that people pay more into insurance than they ever get out. If they didn’t the insurance companies wouldn’t make a profit. The money you pay isn’t going into some huge fund that supports everyone who pays for it. If it doesn’t go to paying out claims now it goes straight to the insurance executives, or investors, or to “lobbying” politicians to keep the racket going. The day you stop paying out you get fucking nothing. All that money is just gone, for the pleasure of maybe having your claim paid out if your insurance company can’t weasel their way out of paying. Insurance is a scam, a bunch of penny pinching middlemen draining the world of human productivity and effort for their own benefit and nothing else. Any benefit a particular individual happens to get is a loss to be minimized to them.
being for profit companies
I think the approach in Australia is a bit better - bodily injury coverage is provided by the state and is part of the registration fee for the car. It only covers injuries to people, and does not cover repairing cars (you need to get separate insurance from an insurer for that) but it’s a good first step I guess. It means that as long as your car is registered, medical costs for both you and anyone you hit are covered.
In France, most insurance companies are mutual and not for profit. (Basically a communist hellhole!)
I’m also Australian and what this person is saying is true
I beleive its called “CTP” or “compulsory third party insurance” if I recall correctly
You can get additional optional car insurance in Australia as well
Yeah, CTP. I never drove or owned a car in Australia so I’m glad I got it right haha. I lived in Melbourne and used public transport all my life. I didn’t learn to drive until I moved to the USA.
It would be a scam if you couldn’t choose the company. However, you have plenty of options. Insurance also encourages better driving since things like tickets can cause price increases. There are some privacy concerns with insurance but that is a separate issue.
I mean, I would hope insurance doesn’t need to pay me. That imply I’ve involved in an accident or had my stuff stolen. Even a not for profit insurance company would operate like that. I can afford $100/mo but I cannot afford to replace not only my car but the car or property of whatever I may be found at fault for hitting(and if I get hit, can that person afford to pay me?). If I got into an accident, especially if I were younger, how would I replace my $5,000 car and the $70k BMW I just hit? What if my kid set my house on fire or what if fire leapt from my neighbour’s house to mine?
That said, it’s absolutely true that system is bloated to an absolutely disgusting level and its shocking lack of regulation for, as you say, being legally required is pitiful. It deplorable that people need to fight to get payouts sometimes and how the US uses it for healthcare is just hellish. It’s also true that the capitalist/libertarian ideal of insurance only really works if people are paid adequately but both those systems do fuck all, on purpose, to keep people’s financial security safe.
In Québec, liability is paid for by the province so our car insurance is a lot cheaper and regular insurance only needs to cover the physical property, so that’s nice. It’s still got it’s problems I’m sure, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Oh I’m the whole concept of an excess. So I have to pay to have my car insured but if the damage to my car is less than a certain amount I have to pay for it? What’s the point of the insurance then.
My car is probably worth less than the excess anyway so if it was a total write-off I’d get a maybe five hundred for it, and that’s it
What you are describing is not insurance, it’s capitalism in general.
Wanpieserino@lemm.ee 6 days ago
Insurance is very much needed. If there weren’t that many reckless drivers then insurance would be cheaper.
I wish we had the same thing as in Singapore. Their cars literally cannot go over the speed limit.
But yes, when insurance is basically required to have, then it’s good to start having government participation in it. The government needs to be the majority stakeholder, as it also provides all of the customers.