bricks, angry mutant possums, and auto insurance
You probably do not remember the bricks incident from 2004. It told the tale of my Cougar being pelted by falling bricks that were improperly secured. The rest of the story was that the truck driver was uninsured, so I was out my $500 deductible to have half the car refinished. Liberty Mutual did nothing to help me with this claim; it was a difficult process; I was forced to fax the same paperwork numerous times, and the shop held the car for about three weeks. But that is all almost three years in the past.
I received paperwork in the mail a few days ago that my Liberty Mutual policy had gone up 10% since last year; without any explanation for the increase. That was a bad move on their part, as I had been considering switching to either Progressive or State Farm for some time. I have held a Progressive policy on my motorcycle since last year; I have had only good experiences with them.
During the application process, I discovered something: the bricks incident, for which I was entirely not at fault, was costing me and my wife a nontrivial (over $300/year) amount of money! Apparently since a police report was written, there was a record of me being involved in an "accident", having an adverse affect on my insurability in this "no fault" state. Unfortunately, it gets worse. A comprehensive claim was made to recover damages in that incident, which also counts against my wife (who was owner of the car). Basically, the insurance companies have a right to charge her more just because she made a claim. I cannot justify this.
If one becomes ill quite often, or even contracts a terminal disease while insured, their cost of health insurance does not increase because of services billed to the insurance company. If one's home is destroyed by angry mutant possums, their homeowner's insurance does not increase after a claim is made.
I am quite sick of being swindled out of my money because of yet another industry pushing cash into the pockets of mainstream politics. So let me discuss how it should work. Individuals must be held liable for damage they may cause as a result of operating their vehicle. They may either achieve this by purchasing insurance (the traditional way) or by maintaining contingency capital in an account. This account would have a minimum balance equal to the governing body's minimum liability limit. If a collision occurs, the judicial branch of the government allocates fault on a percentage basis, and money flows accordingly. The account, albeit illiquid, would be interest-bearing, thus freeing the individual from the expense of holding insurance, while still satisfying the liability requirements dictated by the legislative branch of the government.
Why are we isolated from solutions such as this? In our plutocracy, politicians take huge payouts from big business. Why else would these millionaires be working a $165k per year job? I believe government should be for the people, by the people...not for the economic interests of big business and the personal interests of the political elite. Fortunately, the power to change this has been granted to us by our country's forefathers, in the form of suffrage. If you value your freedom, stop letting society tell you "you're throwing your vote away!" and vote for real change.
I received paperwork in the mail a few days ago that my Liberty Mutual policy had gone up 10% since last year; without any explanation for the increase. That was a bad move on their part, as I had been considering switching to either Progressive or State Farm for some time. I have held a Progressive policy on my motorcycle since last year; I have had only good experiences with them.
During the application process, I discovered something: the bricks incident, for which I was entirely not at fault, was costing me and my wife a nontrivial (over $300/year) amount of money! Apparently since a police report was written, there was a record of me being involved in an "accident", having an adverse affect on my insurability in this "no fault" state. Unfortunately, it gets worse. A comprehensive claim was made to recover damages in that incident, which also counts against my wife (who was owner of the car). Basically, the insurance companies have a right to charge her more just because she made a claim. I cannot justify this.
If one becomes ill quite often, or even contracts a terminal disease while insured, their cost of health insurance does not increase because of services billed to the insurance company. If one's home is destroyed by angry mutant possums, their homeowner's insurance does not increase after a claim is made.
I am quite sick of being swindled out of my money because of yet another industry pushing cash into the pockets of mainstream politics. So let me discuss how it should work. Individuals must be held liable for damage they may cause as a result of operating their vehicle. They may either achieve this by purchasing insurance (the traditional way) or by maintaining contingency capital in an account. This account would have a minimum balance equal to the governing body's minimum liability limit. If a collision occurs, the judicial branch of the government allocates fault on a percentage basis, and money flows accordingly. The account, albeit illiquid, would be interest-bearing, thus freeing the individual from the expense of holding insurance, while still satisfying the liability requirements dictated by the legislative branch of the government.
Why are we isolated from solutions such as this? In our plutocracy, politicians take huge payouts from big business. Why else would these millionaires be working a $165k per year job? I believe government should be for the people, by the people...not for the economic interests of big business and the personal interests of the political elite. Fortunately, the power to change this has been granted to us by our country's forefathers, in the form of suffrage. If you value your freedom, stop letting society tell you "you're throwing your vote away!" and vote for real change.