Insurance Scam

I wanted to buy a cheap Jeep. It costs 700 quid and is nearly 30 years old. The insurance on that should be about 50 quid for a 46 year old male, right?

The lady on the end of the phone asked if I wanted it to start today. I said OK. She didn’t tell me it would then be considered an “emergency policy” which comes with a £200 premium.

She asked if I had any accidents or claims, even if they WEREN’T my fault? I said yes, and explained a claim based on a part falling off a lorry and that I couldn’t trace the culprit.

As for speeding points, I had about 9, but I think 3 are valid. The other 6 might appear on the insurance, but not on my government license page. If they’re not on the government’s page, WHY is an insurance company allowed to hold them against you? They’re not taken into account, the lady said.

So, taking all this into account, my premium for a 30 year old, 700 quid Jeep Cherokee was £730!!!!

WTF????

I decided to go to a comparison web site and omit all the minor technicalities above. The cheapest quote was £211 and that was from my CURRENT provider!

The question all this leads up to is a systemic one:

Consider the NHS. You effectively pay into the system for X-amount of years, and should you need to visit a hospital or have an operation, need an ambulance or anything else NHS-related, you simply receive the treatment as part of the contract we have with our taxation system.

If you need an ambulance, your NIC doesn’t suddenly increase by 20%, does it? If you need an operation, your NIC doesn’t suddenly leap to 200% of your original contributions.

You are effectively paying into an insurance policy for your health, and no matter how many times you use it, the law of numbers kicks in and the more people who are contributing, the probability of us all needing it at the same time is miniscule. This means that there will always be more people paying in than actually needs it.

This is the same principle as your insurance policy. I have been paying into an insurance policy, sometimes two or more policies over the last 30 years, and as a system, I have only claimed twice over that time. And one of those times, it wasn’t my fault.

So why are insurance companies allowed to effectively TRIPLE your premium based on past behaviour, when the NHS does not do this?

Why doesn’t my 30 year contribution to the insurance system count towards me claim record? I have put into the system roughly £400 per year on average, for 30 years. That’s a total contribution of £12,000. My last claim, that wasn’t my fault, came to £600.

With almost everyone in the country contributing a similar amount on average, the insurance companies are obviously playing the numbers game.

This simple fact should be enough to ensure we NEVER have to see a rise in a policy after a claim. Forget the probability factors. If everyone pays the same amount based on age and experience, on a sliding scale, then the numbers game should ensure that no matter who claims, there is always enough money in the insurance pot to cover all eventualities.

Just like the NHS!