Do you think insurance is a scam

I didn't want to derail the other thread anymore, so let's discuss it here. Here is my take on it. I've known several insurance brokers over the years and they all are living in expensive homes. I believe every bit of insurance is one big scam and we would all be better of self insuring.

When you think of how much the average family pays in insurance, it is a hindrance to building wealth. The average home, auto, and health is 15-20k. Stick that in a bank account for 10 years and you have 150-200k. Short of a major medical emergency, how many people have had an insurance claim in those figures? How many people have major claims before 40? Think if you saved that for 30-40 years of your working career, you would be way ahead of what insurance would have shelled out for you. The problem with insurance is that we have to insure all these individual items. We have to overbuy coverage on everything. Then when you need insurance, there is always and fight over what is covered and what isn't. Then there is general liability and workers comp. We as consumers pay all of that cost in the products and services that we buy.

Then you have all the blood sucking lawyers. They will file any suit against insurance just because they know insurance will pay out just to make a claim go away.

Insurance is totally worth it when you need it. I’ve wrecked a few cars in my day and I probably still haven’t broken even with the amount they paid out for me. I think it’s bullshit if people don’t have it.

TK1299 said:

Insurance is totally worth it when you need it. I’ve wrecked a few cars in my day and I probably still haven’t broken even with the amount they paid out for me. I think it’s bullshit if people don’t have it.

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Do you think you would be more careful if you were paying for the accident?

tistan said:

Do you think you would be more careful if you were paying for the accident?

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Yeah I would have been more careful when an uninsured motorist hit me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been on the road.

and perhaps the lightning strike that catches people’s houses on fire can be prevented so they won’t need this scam called insurance as well

Insurance isn’t necessarily a scam. Do we all pay way to much for it? Yes. Should we have to pay deductibles even though we already pay every month for insurance? I don’t think so. But, insurance is definitely needed. Especially health insurance. I have a condition that basically required me to get an MRI done every couple of years and see a specialist every single year until I turned 21. I can’t imagine how much my parents would of had to of paid if we didn’t have insurance. Same story with my father who has been battling skin cancer for several years. Medication and chemo isn’t cheap.

TK1299 said:

Yeah I would have been more careful when an uninsured motorist hit me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been on the road.

and perhaps the lightning strike that catches people’s houses on fire can be prevented so they won’t need this scam called insurance as well

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You said you "I've wrecked a few cars in my day". That doesn't depict that someone else was at fault.

tistan said:

You said you "I've wrecked a few cars in my day". That doesn't depict that someone else was at fault.

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Because you are trying to read too much into my response, since it’s in disagreeance with your position.
But let’s say I was at fault, which I have been a few times, and I didn’t have insurance. Moreover, you are the driver of the car I struck and your shit is wrecked hard. You’d be pissed if I said I didn’t have insurance because it was a scam.

Mpoitrast87 said:

Insurance isn’t necessarily a scam. Do we all pay way to much for it? Yes. Should we have to pay deductibles even though we already pay every month for insurance? I don’t think so. But, insurance is definitely needed. Especially health insurance. I have a condition that basically required me to get an MRI done every couple of years and see a specialist every single year until I turned 21. I can’t imagine how much my parents would of had to of paid if we didn’t have insurance. Same story with my father who has been battling skin cancer for several years. Medication and chemo isn’t cheap.

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Do you think all those medical devices and treatments would cost so much if it were not for insurance? Most products are priced by what the market will bear, but not when it comes to medicine.

As I said in the other thread, it's legalized extortion. I shouldn't have to pay for a service I don't necessarily need under threat of penalty of law if I don't.

Plus, I don't understand how anyone can be OK with paying exorbitant rates for a service they don't even use 99.9% of the time, and when they do, the company they pay fights them tooth and nail over how much they'll do for them.

tistan said:

Do you think all those medical devices and treatments would cost so much if it were not for insurance? Most products are priced by what the market will bear, but not when it comes to medicine.

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You have to be more specific with what medical products you’re taking about. The topic is too broad

TK1299 said:

Because you are trying to read too much into my response, since it’s in disagreeance with your position.
But let’s say I was at fault, which I have been a few times, and I didn’t have insurance. Moreover, you are the driver of the car I struck and your shit is wrecked hard. You’d be pissed if I said I didn’t have insurance because it was a scam.

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I'm not reading into anything, it interprets exactly how your wrote it.

Whatever did people do before we were all forced to have insurance?

tistan said:

Whatever did people do before

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Well, car insurance was required starting in 1927 when car became more prevalent and people were getting hosed by having to repair damage caused by others.
Health insurance wasn’t required until Obama passed his shit legislation.

TK1299 said:

Well, car insurance was required starting in 1927 when car became more prevalent and people were getting hosed by having to repair damage caused by others.
Health insurance wasn’t required until Obama passed his shit legislation.

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Your google is strong, but if you read more than the headline than you would know this is not even close to accurate.


Just in case anyone else wants to read further than the headline, here it is.
When did auto insurance become mandatory?

tistan said:

Your google is strong, but if you read more than the headline than you would know this is not even close to accurate.

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Who in the **** would know that without googling?

TK1299 said:

Who in the **** would know that without googling?

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I knew my parents said it wasn't required when they were young.

Coiled03 said:

As I said in the other thread, it's legalized extortion. I shouldn't have to pay for a service I don't necessarily need under threat of penalty of law if I don't.

Plus, I don't understand how anyone can be OK with paying exorbitant rates for a service they don't even use 99.9% of the time, and when they do, the company they pay fights them tooth and nail over how much they'll do for them.

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What insurance are you forced to pay?

tistan said:

I knew my parents said it wasn't required when they were young.

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I never had the “talk” with my parents. About insurance or the birds and the bees.

I believe insurance is an absolute scam.

Companies will gladly take your money, all the while employing a team of lawyers to make sure they can legally wiggle their way out of paying out in full in case of a claim.

I am OK the concept of being insured just in case shit happens....but if shit don't happen, I should get some of my money back!!

I've been driving for 25 years. I have never been in an accident. The only claim I ever made, I had to fight tooth and nail to get my car repaired to it's original condition.

I've been in one at fault accident in 23 years. It was about 4 years ago. I backed into a car. I let the owner know I hit them and gave them my insurance. I did $1400 in damage. My insurance went up almost that for a year. In three years time that it took to go off my record, i paid the insurance more than double what they paid out. I told my insurance that I would pay them back the $1400 to take it off my record, but "rules" say once it is filed it can't be undone.

tistan said:

I've been in one at fault accident in 23 years. It was about 4 years ago. I backed into a car. I let the owner know I hit them and gave them my insurance. I did $1400 in damage. My insurance went up almost that for a year. In three years time that it took to go off my record, i paid the insurance more than double what they paid out. I told my insurance that I would pay them back the $1400 to take it off my record, but "rules" say once it is filed it can't be undone.

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You’re helping to pay for others who don’t have insurance.