Quote:
Originally Posted by sailaway21
What a maroon!
Not surprisingly, you missed the point the Beezer was making.
If the government mandates that we all wear our seatbelts, what incentive is there for the insurance companies to lower rates? On the other hand, if it's a voluntary action on the part of the policy holder the insurance company can offer an incentive to do so.
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We agree 100% on the idea of having safety devices that work. I was worried there for a moment!
As to voluntary, that is a tough one...unless, as you say, we install some kind of device that makes it clear whether a seat belt is fastened all the time and then transmit that data to an insurance company.
But tell me again...what does not work about the current system?
Oh, yeah, insurance companies have no reason to lower rates?
Well, being as my SIL is a big time fancy insurance actuary, I have put the question to him. The answer is actually quite simple....well, maybe not simply enough!
COMPETITION......
That's the easy button, for sure! If insurance was provided by one company with ultimate greed then your point might make some sense. But it isn't. Furthermore, some insurance (not as much in the car biz) is provided by companies which are OWNED BY THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE POLICIES. They work on a communist cost-plus ideal - that is, they take the actuarial tables and the real world experience and add enough profit to keep the insurance company going.
In our commonwealth we have (big bad) regulation which sets a lot of the prices of car insurance. As with electricity and nat gas, etc. they cannot charge whatever they want.
There may be points you can make in relation to free market forces, but allowing people to maim themselves and become a burden on others may not be the "right" one.