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kylere · 05-01-2007, 08:47 AM

I agree that insurance companies are not a scam globally. However, they tend to setup rules that are self beneficial to the point of being ruinous to their clients. Scams usually involve deception and the insurance companies are very open about their practices. Consumers often fail to bother finding out all the information about their policies until it is too late which leaves them feeling scammed. The insurance companies spend millions to lobby state legislatures for laws like Michigan's No Fault (which is the worst I am aware of after living in several states as spoken of below) and in some cases they abuse the consumers by charging rates several times what is realistic because they have no choice but to comply. However it is your elected officials that set the laws, rules and practices of the insurance companies (at least within the US) and they are the people that should be pushed into handling the issues. Write your representatives if you want them to listen, use pen and paper instead of email or phone calls, and hope they care more about their constituents than the next big donation check from GEICO.

In Michigan our laws are wonderful, In my fully covered car if I am hit by;
-If I am hit by a PLPD driver (PLPD is liability only) the result is: My car gets fixed (as cheaply as the insurance company can get away with) the other car stays broken, and both our rates go up.
-Fully covered driver, both our cars are fixed, both our rates go up.
-Uninsured driver, my rates go up, they are charged and fined but rarely prosecuted by the state and the most I can collect from them USD$500 which would equal about my annual cost increase.

If I have basic liability coverage (PLPD)
-If I am hit by a PLPD driver, nothing is fixed for either of us, both our rates go up
-If I am hit by fully covered driver, his car is fixed, mine is not, both our rates go up.
-If I am hit by uninsured driver, my rates go up (and theirs if they try to get insurance)and the 500 limit applies.

So regardless of circumstances, the insurance companies here collect more money from all parties, and have limited their liability to the point that I feel as if they think No-fault means they should not have to pay anyone. The only consistency appears to be rate increases. To add insult to injury, when I moved from Cincinnati, Ohio to Flint Michigan my insurance rates tripled without any other variable changing (Other than me turning aging a year). Liability here is almost exactly the same (5% diff) as full coverage in Cincy.

As for health insurance, I would rant about it, but I feel that the hospitals/doctors offices are so poorly managed I am just glad to get in and out when I can. Took me six tries to find a decent doctor when I moved here, and none of the area hospitals can manage to make it through a day without losing (physically) patients heh.

05-01-2007, 08:47 AM	#24 (permalink)
kylere Upright Location: 3rd Most Dangerous!	I agree that insurance companies are not a scam globally. However, they tend to setup rules that are self beneficial to the point of being ruinous to their clients. Scams usually involve deception and the insurance companies are very open about their practices. Consumers often fail to bother finding out all the information about their policies until it is too late which leaves them feeling scammed. The insurance companies spend millions to lobby state legislatures for laws like Michigan's No Fault (which is the worst I am aware of after living in several states as spoken of below) and in some cases they abuse the consumers by charging rates several times what is realistic because they have no choice but to comply. However it is your elected officials that set the laws, rules and practices of the insurance companies (at least within the US) and they are the people that should be pushed into handling the issues. Write your representatives if you want them to listen, use pen and paper instead of email or phone calls, and hope they care more about their constituents than the next big donation check from GEICO. In Michigan our laws are wonderful, In my fully covered car if I am hit by; -If I am hit by a PLPD driver (PLPD is liability only) the result is: My car gets fixed (as cheaply as the insurance company can get away with) the other car stays broken, and both our rates go up. -Fully covered driver, both our cars are fixed, both our rates go up. -Uninsured driver, my rates go up, they are charged and fined but rarely prosecuted by the state and the most I can collect from them USD$500 which would equal about my annual cost increase. If I have basic liability coverage (PLPD) -If I am hit by a PLPD driver, nothing is fixed for either of us, both our rates go up -If I am hit by fully covered driver, his car is fixed, mine is not, both our rates go up. -If I am hit by uninsured driver, my rates go up (and theirs if they try to get insurance)and the 500 limit applies. So regardless of circumstances, the insurance companies here collect more money from all parties, and have limited their liability to the point that I feel as if they think No-fault means they should not have to pay anyone. The only consistency appears to be rate increases. To add insult to injury, when I moved from Cincinnati, Ohio to Flint Michigan my insurance rates tripled without any other variable changing (Other than me turning aging a year). Liability here is almost exactly the same (5% diff) as full coverage in Cincy. As for health insurance, I would rant about it, but I feel that the hospitals/doctors offices are so poorly managed I am just glad to get in and out when I can. Took me six tries to find a decent doctor when I moved here, and none of the area hospitals can manage to make it through a day without losing (physically) patients heh.