Recently, I purchased myself a new car and of course, had to get new insurance to go along with it. It got me thinking about my driving record and the usefulness of auto insurance for a person like myself. I have an excellent driving record and have only needed to make a claim against an auto insurance policy once in my life - when my car was stolen and it was that one time that my insurance did nothing for me because my policy was on the cusp between expiration and renewal and the insurance company (GEIKO) chose to take the low road and opt to not cover me in spite of the fact that they had plenty of my money from the times when I didn't actually need insurance. That's the real American way: take, take and take more and only give back when you can find a way to get more out of giving as in charitable gifts given annually by corporations in order to lower their taxable incomes.
So I'm thinking about auto insurance and all I can see is an open window and me standing in it - tossing out loads of money that will never be seen again. I'm wondering what the hell am I getting out of this? I am supposedly paying for a potential problem and if that's true then I think that when the policy expires and I have not experienced a potential problem, I should get a substantial portion of those premiums back. What if medical insurance was the same as auto insurance? When you think about it they are the same thing. Medical insurance covers you if you develop an unforeseen health problem and auto insurance is supposed to cover your vehicle if it develops an unforeseen health problem. The difference is that medical insurance pays for you to get regular check-ups and when a problem happens, it pays a substantial portion of the costs associated with restoring your health and maintaining it (prescriptions) after the fact. Auto insurance doesn't cover routine vehicle tune-ups and maintenance and if you blow a gasket - you're on your own. So, what the hell do we pay so much money for?
I think auto insurance should cover routine maintenance/check-ups such as oil changes, tire rotations, breaks, fluid topping, system flushing, diagnostics and offer substantial subsidies towards purchasing new tires or having major work done that isn't associated with an auto accident. If not that, they should return a substantial portion of your premiums annually. Anywho, those are my thoughts on that.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with you 100%!!! I'm a 30 year old male with a clean driving record (I have even driven tow trucks in Los Angeles), and even though I cut my insurance down to the state minimum, and even though I drive an older car, I sill pay up the wazoo because I'm a "single male," and because my credit is not that great. Found out they can also penalize you if you had a lapse in your insurance.
ReplyDeleteBut it gets worse, because in most states, insurance is now mandatory and if you don't carry it, they can suspend your license or your registration. It can spiral out of control to where you can even loose your car (i.e, Operation live stop in Philly, look it up).
Sooooo, if every person who drives a car has insurance, why the hell is it sill expensive?!
Hmmm, well I do know there is a lot of fraud that happens on the back end such as with the auto body shops. The auto body shop will create MORE damage to your car that way they can charge the insurance company more money to fix it. They pocket this money and sometimes they split it with the owner of the car.
I however am more concerned with the government making auto insurance mandatory because it's going after US citizens rather harshly, but the illegals are still driving around without insurance, and when they get into accidents they flee the scene or there is just no way to go after them to pay for the damage so you can't win! Can you believe you have to pay extra on your policy to cover uninsured motorist??
Anyhow, people are dumb, and most people pay insurance simply because they make enough money to pay for it (lower middle class on up), and they think it's the right thing to do. The thing is, it's only going to get worse because people are so D%% passive, so now, you can see the government is taking steps to make health care insurance mandatory.
I think it's time to move out the county already; I'm sick of this.