Wasted Money: Auto Insurance

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.