Insurance: The greatest scam of them all?

ThinkProgress

How many different insurance policies do we purchase throughout our lives? Are they all really necessary, or mostly just a massive waste of money?

The whole premise of insurance, is that you have it - but try everything possible never to use it... lol

This seems somewhat ludicrous to me. (And a perfect business model for insurance companies too btw)

And then if you are unlucky enough that you need to use it... well your crafty insurance company will attempt to find ANY loophole they can think of to avoid paying out!

Has anyone ever actually calculated how much they spend on various insurance policies every year? Insurance seems like a big scam to me... But people will call you crazy if you don't have it.

Does it pi$$ anyone else off?

Or do you sleep better at night paying all that hard earned money?

El Weirdo

It's the ultimate in gambling.

rtron

I'm selling insurance insurance pm if interested.

Aidric

Health Insurance may be expensive but I sleep better at night knowing I have it.

It's a mugs game to play the risk of possibly not needing it.

El Weirdo

rtron wrote: »

I'm selling insurance insurance Looking for cock pics, pm if interested.

FYP, and PM sent.

moneymad

Aidric wrote: »

Health Insurance may be expensive but I sleep better at night knowing I have it.

It's a mugs game to play the risk of possibly not needing it.

How much do you pay per anum?
And what age group are you?

listermint

Aidric wrote: »

Health Insurance may be expensive but I sleep better at night knowing I have it.

It's a mugs game to play the risk of possibly not needing it.

Definitely works for vhi

smurfjed

I've paid my parents VHI for years, after seeing their recent bills, it was worth every single cent

ronivek

The whole point of insurance is to spread the risk over a large number of people.

In other words most people will never make a claim; but those who do will be relatively well looked after.

ThinkProgress

OSI wrote: »

Everyone thinks it's a scam until they need it. When a consultant says we can sort this problem in couple of days for a 5 figure sum, or you can wait 3 years to get it on the HSE, maybe, you'll be damn glad of it then.

Or the insurance company says "sorry your policy doesn't cover that procedure"...

Of course there are examples of people who need it and use it. But there are FAR MORE examples of those who don't and might never use it.

At least if we pay those premiums, there should be less fear mongering about using your policy. There is this culture of trying everything possible not to use your insurance, because your premium will go up.

The perfect example is car insurance, where many people will avoid contacting insurance companies after an accident - because a claim will increase the premium. (cha ching... happy days for mr. insurance broker) lol

Pay for insurance, but do everything possible in your power to avoid ever using it.

I just think this is a bullying tactic that insurance companies are freely allowed to get away with. Nobody seems to ever challenge this idea.

Aidric

moneymad wrote: »

How much do you pay per anum?
And what age group are you?

4800CHF. 28-35.

jester77

Ah, insurances, not sure how many I have. Health, insurance against not being able to ever work, car, house, house contents, 2x life insurances, accident insurance. There are probably another 1 or 2 I have forgotten about.

Just added up what I pay per annum, €7566. Ouch. But at least the ouch is covered!

jester77

Aidric wrote: »

4800CHF. 28-35.

That's a lot cheaper than in Germany, does that cover everything?

TallGlass

Its a scam in some respects, the way company's don't show loyalty to customers who are with them years. I am with Liberty Insurance like 5/6 years now but not 'technically' the same customer.

Each year I have to cancel my policy so I get a cheaper quote. Take for example this year I got my automatic renewal quote 777€. Logged online but its online 645€ there as a new customer !

In saying that the AA was cheapest so will more than likely go with them.

Insurance is only if I hit into anyone/knock someone down/kill someone that I wouldn't have the money to cover. Anything else I usually pay, unless it won't impact my cover like recovery if broken down.

Billy86

Depends on the type of insurance really, though car insurance is most definitely a scam. Your five years NCB goes obsolete if you dont have a policy in your name for two years, one day. Even if you were named on a policy you cannot use that to hold you NCB, and if you use that named driving experience, even a gap of one single day anywhere within that 5 years wipes the whole thing out. If you have a full and valid NCB it is not valid on taking a second policy.

Oh, except literally every single one of these issues can magically disappear if you know someone working at an underwriter like AXA, Aviva, RSA, etc direct.

My favourite though was the gender equality bit that came in. I worked on the AA in 2011 before it came in, and the price differences were insane. I moved to Oz in the Autumn and when I got back, worked in AonInsure for a while. I was expecting them to lower male prices, increase female, and round up the difference to increase their margins. I was so wrong... male prices had dropped by 10% while female prices had gone up by 90% and nothing else changed (those are guesstimated figures going off quotes I was providing). Basically, they just used that as an excuse to essentially double prices for half the market.

Billy86

TallGlass wrote: »

In saying that the AA was cheapest so will more than likely go with them.

Just a word of warning unless things have changed fed in the last few years... no breakdown. It is an incredible service but their breakdown assist cost something like €120 when I was there,on top of the insurance. Also double check your excess, I've known quite a few people to increase that to €1,000 and beyond without telling the customer in order to get a cheaper quote.

Aidric

jester77 wrote: »

That's a lot cheaper than in Germany, does that cover everything?

Nope. That's pretty much your basic coverage.

TallGlass

Billy86 wrote: »

I was so wrong... male prices had dropped by 10% while female prices had gone up by 90% and nothing else changed (those are guesstimated figures going off quotes I was providing). Basically, they just used that as an excuse to essentially double prices for half the market.

That my friend was never ever going to work any other way. People where honestly excepting rates to drop. Can you imagine, something dropping in price in Ireland? Not a hope.

As for discrimination? As a male driver, it never once bothered me females having lower insurance.

Harry Palmr

I pay AIG a monthly instalment so I can receive a up to 300,000 if a become Quadrophenia. Thing is I'll probably kill myself if that ever happened. So I win!

TallGlass

Billy86 wrote: »

Just a word of warning unless the g's have changed fed in the last few years... no breakdown. It is an incredible service but their breakdown assist cost something like €120 when I was there,on top of the insurance. Also double check your excess, I've known quite a few people to increase that to €1,000 and beyond without telling the customer in order to get a cheaper quote.

It's 80€ extra with 3rd party with AA, but you get discount on the original quote. Still works out cheaper than Liberty, not sure of the excess will have to check. Its around 620/630€ for a 01 Toyota Corolla 1.4, I have 6 year NCB and am 25 M . Seems a bit high to me and some insurance company's are refusing to quote me and I am all clear driving wise .

Wibbs

smurfjed wrote: »

I've paid my parents VHI for years, after seeing their recent bills, it was worth every single cent

Insurance drives up those bills though and that's the problem. Just look to the American medical system and the obscene costs involved. Over half of all US personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills and two thirds of those folks had medical insurance. Pet insurance is a good example to look at. Vet bills were significantly lower before that kicked off and significantly higher today. With added extra bullshít with it. Look at car insurance repairs. There's the insurance price which is the actual price plus whatever extra cream we can get and the cash price which is almost always, hell it is always lower and doesn't hit the poor insured sap the next year he tries to renew.

Insurance as a concept is a brilliant one, in practice though it's run by greedy pricks, pricks who can't even balance the books(allegedly) in a few insurance companies, even when profits appear grotesquely high before operating expenses come in.

Billy86

TallGlass wrote: »

It's 80€ extra with 3rd party with AA, but you get discount on the original quote. Still works out cheaper than Liberty, not sure of the excess will have to check. Its around 620/630€ for a 01 Toyota Corolla 1.4, I have 6 year NCB and am 25 M . Seems a bit high to me and some insurance company's are refusing to quote me and I am all clear driving wise .

An excess is the first part of the claim you pay yourself - so if the excess is €200 on the policy, a €1,000 claim will get €you 800 back. If the excess is €500, you will get €500 back. Excesses don't count towards windscreen claims.

Your car is partly costing you money due to it's age (harder to find replacement parts) which becomes an issue after 10-12 years, though Toyota's tend to hold up very well. Do you live in D22 or D24, or near the border by chance? Insurance goes up in those areas due to theft concerns... Louth is considerably more expensive than Meath for example, for anyone reading this living in Drogheda .

The quote still seems a bit high, though 25 is where prices begin to really drop down. If you were 3 years older that quote would probably be a few hundred less. I would advise you to call Liberty before going with AA, let them know you are an existing customer and have a cheaper quote (make sure you have all the policy benefits on hand, they will ask to make sure like-for-like). You would be amazed at how they can magically make a few hundred even come off your quote without changing anything on your policy - one example with the AA when I was there was a promo they did that would beat any like-for-like quote you got cheaper than we had, regardless of price difference (you didn't even require proof under €100 difference!)

Then again if they cannot match it, don't take it personally. Companies change the type of customer they are going after from time to time, so while you may have fitted their criteria for the best price a few years ago, you may not now. Kind of like if what you are looking for in the supermarket happens to be on sale that day or not, really.

One other tip - if you have a partner you currently live with, and they have a full and clear NCB they will actually reduce the cost of your policy. Could be borderline at age 25 or under, but as you get into your late 20s it can save a lot of money.

Aidric

Aidric wrote: »

Nope. That's pretty much your basic coverage.

No it ain't. Mines under 3k and is the basic. You must've some additional options

Turtwig

The greatest scam of them all is brand bottled water.

Billy86

Turtwig wrote: »

The greatest scam of them all is brand bottled water.

But WHAT a scam! It's amazing how people under a certain age nowadays are freaked out entirely by someone using water from a tap. Or refilling a water bottle because "it's full of poison!" despite that not being an issue at all when they went and bought it in the first place. :pac:

For Forks Sake

Can I interest anyone in some Volcano Insurance?

uch

As El-Wierdo said, it's gambling, but after paying it for twenty five years, my wife was rear ended recently, (not by me) and is out of work for the last six months with a back injury, so thank god for Insurance, she'll get what she's due for loss of earnings and a few quid for expenses but little else

Menas

I seem to be always paying insurance premiums. Car, house, mortgage, health and life insurance.
The last one is most important to me...knowing that the family can move to Tahiti to help them get over my death...

Wibbs

uch wrote: »

my wife was rear ended recently, (not by me)

*an 8 year old trapped in a middle aged man's body reaches for the keyboard*

Lemsiper

Surely religion is a bigger scam?

Streetwalker

Health insurance is a scam. Never paid a cent for it and never will. If I ever even had a 1% thought of paying it those disgusting adds on TV from Aviva or whoever it is put me off totally.

TallGlass

TallGlass wrote: »

Its a scam in some respects, the way company's don't show loyalty to customers who are with them years. I am with Liberty Insurance like 5/6 years now but not 'technically' the same customer.

Each year I have to cancel my policy so I get a cheaper quote. Take for example this year I got my automatic renewal quote 777€. Logged online but its online 645€ there as a new customer !

In saying that the AA was cheapest so will more than likely go with them.

Insurance is only if I hit into anyone/knock someone down/kill someone that I wouldn't have the money to cover. Anything else I usually pay, unless it won't impact my cover like recovery if broken down.

Why don't you just ring them and tell them to match it? I always do that

TallGlass

bluewolf wrote: »

Why don't you just ring them and tell them to match it? I always do that

I will I have to anyone even if I don't want the quote. My experience is they don't really care and will let you go. Sure there cutting jobs like no tomorrow in the insurance industry from looking at RTE news.

Capt'n Midnight

Father Purcell: Oh they have you everywhere you know. I was in the AA there for a while, but the insurance was very expensive.
Father Dougal: Oh right (getting bored)
Father Purcell: I had to crash the car to get the money back and they had witnesses who said they'd seen me steer it towards the wall you know. There was talk of me going to jail for a while!!