NationStates Jolt Archive

Kidnap insurance is an insurance policy that pays your ransom for you up to a certain amount if a loved one or yourself is kidnapped. I don't like to talk about it that much and i don't remember much about it but when I lived in Bogota when i was 5 I was kidnapped and held for 1 day. The only things that i remember was when they actually took me and when they burned marks on my back which i still have. My family did have that insurance at the time and i was released the next morning but it was one of the most raumatic events of my life. Do you think that kidnap insurance should be outlawed as it garuntees the kidnappers a certain amount of money or do you think that it is a necessary thing for those w/ enough money to be considered a target but not enough money to financially survive a ransom?

Kidnap insurance is an insurance policy that pays your ransom for you up to a certain amount if a loved one or yourself is kidnapped. I don't like to talk about it that much and i don't remember much about it but when I lived in Bogota when i was 5 I was kidnapped and held for 1 day. The only things that i remember was when they actually took me and when they burned marks on my back which i still have. My family did have that insurance at the time and i was released the next morning but it was one of the most raumatic events of my life. Do you think that kidnap insurance should be outlawed as it garuntees the kidnappers a certain amount of money or do you think that it is a necessary thing for those w/ enough money to be considered a target but not enough money to financially survive a ransom?

I would imagine kidnap insurance is offered where it is necessary. There are a number of countries in which kidnapping seems to be fairly commonplace.

I'd never heard of it before your post.

One of the policies my dad used to sell when he worked insurance and we lived in the Middle East was K&R policies. I have no problem with K&R as a general idea becuase its a good safe ground, one of those just in case things. However, it does offer possibilities with fraud. I don't think it should be outlawed, the idea that having K&R causes kidnappings is like saying smoke causes fire.

I'm against giving kidnappers money in principle but I can see why people would want to have insurance against it because lets face it if someone kidnaps your kid you aren’t goanna sit there and make a point

I say no though because I live in Europe thus kidnap is not a big worry for me

One of the policies my dad used to sell when he worked insurnace and we lived in the Middle East (Dubai) was K&R policies. I have no problem with K&R as a general idea becuae its a good safe ground, one of those just in case things. However, it does offer possibilities with fraud. I don't think it should be outlawed, the idea that having K&R causes kidnappings is like saying smoke causes fire.

If it's garunteed the kidnapper that the ransom would be paid why wouldn't they do it?

outlawing it would be good except for the number of dead kidnapees there would be before the message sunk in.

i remember seeing about kidnappings in colombia some years ago. it was a virtual industry. they had division of labor over the whole thing where one group would do the kidnapping, another would do the holding, maybe a third would handle the ransom negotiations and a 4th would return the hostage.

i suppose that it was fueled by the upper middle class having kidnapping insurance. how else would anyone be able to raise the cash needed?

If it's garunteed the kidnapper that the ransom would be paid why wouldn't they do it?

And if its not garunteed and someone gets kidnapped and they don't have K&R, now you don't have a kidnapper with money but a dead body. And not everyone is lucky enough to have a body gaurd or K&R policy holder like Denzel Washington or Russel Crowe.

And if its not garunteed and someone gets kidnapped and they don't have K&R, now you don't have a kidnapper with money but a dead body. And not everyone is lucky enough to have a body gaurd or K&R policy holder like Denzel Washington or Russel Crowe.

Kidnappers case their target before going after them. If they know that they won't get the money then there is no reason to kidnap them. I feel confident that i wouldn't have been kidnapped if my family didn't have the insurance. The industry would die overnight if it was banned.

I would imagine kidnap insurance is offered where it is necessary. There are a number of countries in which kidnapping seems to be fairly commonplace.

I'd never heard of it before your post.

*opens kidnap insurance empire in Iraq*

*opens kidnap insurance empire in Iraq*

Your a little late in line for that one...

If it's garunteed the kidnapper that the ransom would be paid why wouldn't they do it?

What's your opinion? You've had first hand experience.

I don't think it's a good idea to institute it in countries that don't already have it. As for countries where it's common place... I don't know. It's hard to say not living in a country llike that.

You'd lose a lot of kidnappees, but if the police response was to show up and blow away the people who pick up the ransom, no one would be so keen on the kidnapping game.

What's your opinion? You've had first hand experience.

I don't think it's a good idea to institute it in countries that don't already have it. As for countries where it's common place... I don't know. It's hard to say not living in a country llike that.

I really think that it should be outlawed. I know that i was only 5 but i still feel a little regret in being a part of funding something like that. In Colombia, you're talking 3000+ kidnapped each year. That is an industry that has become too ingrained in its culture. It is too accepted as normal. But all it really is is terrorism and insurance is the biggest cause of it. They targetted me b/c my family had insurance. The only other real option that i see is keeping insurance records completely confidential but i feel that there is too much corruption and insider work for that to actually work.

This is a fascinating topic. I had no idea the insurance existed.

If the kidnappers are targeting people with insurance than it doesn't seem like there is a point to it. It sounds like a giant scam.