NationStates Jolt Archive

The private/public fire department thread got me thinking. If the government makes you pay for something, anything, isn't that a tax? Being legally required to buy a service that you may very well do without sounds just like a political kickback to me.

I'm not saying that calling up a rich guy and saying "hey, how much you want to bet me that my car won't crash?" isn't a good idea. Just that if the government is making you do one then they should be providing one. It doesn't have to be great, not even collision coverage. Just basic liability. Insurance companies will charge you more if you're an unsafe driver, but isn't that what traffic tickets are?

Sure, I hear people complain "that means more taxes," but you don't have to pay for liability insurance! You're saving money. If you still want collision insurance, or you've got a real fancy car and a real crazy teenager who likes to steal it now and then, well then you can go to a private insurance company.

So should we do it? Should we call up Dubya and say "betchya I crash my car."

NO GOV. INSURANCE

I already pay for flood insurance on my house, it only covers floods and nothing in the basement and cost more than the regular house insurnace which will pay for replacement of the house, garage, and 75,000 worth of contents

Flood insurance is a Fed Gov monopoly :mad:

Are you seriously proposing that the government becomes an insurance company as well as everything else?

The insurance is not compulsory, you do not have to own or drive a car. If you do, then you should be prepared to compensate for any damage you cause by so doing. If you could do this out of your own pocket, then I see no reason for you to have to have insurance (the same as a doctor does not have to have malpractice insurance). However given the level of damage awards that the US courts have been making recently, I would think that you would 'want' to have insurance. This means that it being compulsory is rather like suggesting that as eating is compulsory the government ought to set up in the restaurant trade.

In Australia there is a type of compulsary insurance for car owners, it's called 'compulsary third party insurance.' If you have an accident this covers the medical expenses of the person whom you crashed into. The government does not sell it.

In Australia there is a type of compulsary insurance for car owners, it's called 'compulsary third party insurance.' If you have an accident this covers the medical expenses of the person whom you crashed into. The government does not sell it.

3rd party also covers property damage that your crash does to the other car/s.

3rd party also covers property damage that your crash does to the other car/s.

Really? I thought it was only medical damage, but then I don't own a car...

In Australia there is a type of compulsary insurance for car owners, it's called 'compulsary third party insurance.' If you have an accident this covers the medical expenses of the person whom you crashed into. The government does not sell it.

That's what we call liability insurance here. You are required to have it, and if you're a safe driver then you would probably save money by taking out a loan to pay for any accidents that you're likely to have.

I don't really buy the "you don't have to own a car" argument. Very few places in this country are navigable by mass transit, and the governments deliberatly plan it that way. Not that they forbid city living, just that various zoning laws in suburban areas make it so that going without a car is all but impossible, and the suburban lifestyle is heavily marketed.

Really? I thought it was only medical damage, but then I don't own a car...

Actually, I'm pretty sure medical damage is actually covered by VicRoads, or whatever the statutory body is in your state.

3rd party covers property damage done to others by yourself, but not your own property (you need comprehensive for that). The idea behind it is, if write off someone's Porsche while driving your bomb, you're not paying off the debt for the rest of your life. It also covers you for civil liability (ie if the other driver sues you), usually up to something like $10 million.

NO GOV. INSURANCE

I already pay for flood insurance on my house, it only covers floods and nothing in the basement and cost more than the regular house insurnace which will pay for replacement of the house, garage, and 75,000 worth of contents

Flood insurance is a Fed Gov monopoly :mad:

I'm not saying that the government should replace private insurance, becoming a monopoly, just that if they're going to require you to buy it, then they should offer such an option. That way private insurance companies have to be competative. Right now they don't.

The problem you seem to be complaining about is that only the federal government offers flood insurance. Of course, that should be handled at the state level, even if it recieves federal grants. The Federal government is too distant to be a viable arbiter of insurance claims.

Private insurance companies have to be competitive anyway, government intervention isn't needed because the companies know that any business they don't get, goes to their competitors.

Actually, I'm pretty sure medical damage is actually covered by VicRoads, or whatever the statutory body is in your state.

Not according to the Motor Accident Insurance Commission of QLD (link (http://www.maic.qld.gov.au/)). MIAC also acts as the nominal defendant here (in QLD) which means if the driver at fault does a runner or does not have CTP then they will pay for what the driver should have paid.

CTP provides motor vehicle owners with an insurance policy that covers their unlimited liability for personal injury caused by, through or in connection with the use of the insured motor vehicle anywhere in Australia.

In Sweden for cars we have the private insurance that you are required to have for covering damage to others. There are also a goverment insurance that are extremly expenses that you have to pay after how many days you been driving without a insurance if you get caught without insurance or crash someone else car without insurance. There this goverment insurance cover all the cost for non insurance accidenent.

That I think is a really good idea because it's not fun if some guy crashes into your porche with a volvo stationswagon and put you in a wheelchair and then can't give you any economical compensation because he got no money. And it also good to have a insurance and even the goverment one is mutch less expensive then saying paying for a new porche.