What scares me is the quote “Bob Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America in Washington, D.C., said that poorer states like Alabama and Mississippi will have a greater percentage of uninsured drivers in part because those on the lower end of the income scale have less to protect, and more immediate financial needs. ”
What about the poor schmuck they hit. If they are too poor to purchase basic liability coverage than maybe they are too poor to have a car, pay for gas, etc.Being poor doesn’t put you above the law or make it right you ultimatley can cause anohter to suffer a financial burden.
Totally scary! Yes poor people don’t have money to pay for damages that they are liable for! That’s why you need insurance! Not to protect your own assets, but to protect others that you damage! I can’t believe the quote from the Professor of Risk Mangaement of Troy University. I feel sorry for the kids in that program.
When someone with very little means has to make a choice of buying auto insurance or buying their kids food, then the auto insurance will lose every time. And probably should. Does mandatory auto insurance actually affect your own buying decision? More specifically, do you make your insurance purchase and coverage selection based on what the other driver is “supposed” to carry in your state? No you probably don’t and neither do I. I can’t count on the person that hits me actually having a policy in force plus the state can’t create mandatory coverages that fit my needs. Yes, I know the argument of “we all pay or we pay more” when ininsured people hit us or we pay their hospital bills when they don’t carry insurance, but the fact is that’s already happening in mandatory states. Additionally, minumum mandatory BI coverages feed attorneys and Chiro’s more than they help you or me. In a perfect world, everyone has the means to pay for their insurance, acts responsibly, there is 100% enforcement, and everyone pays their fair share. But come to think of it, I bought my auto insurance policy because it’s not a perfect world.
Texas has this system in place – proof of insurance at time of purchase; execpt for private sales, but still needed for title transfer. We have proof of insurance needed at vehicle registration, safety inspection, and license renewal.
BIG LOOPHOLE – you can buy a policy and pay monthly premiums, Just pay for 1 month – renew registration and safety inspection, then pay no more premiums. Policy lapses.
Agents who should check for expiring insurance but don’t, strongly suspecting their new insured has done this charge a higher premium and write the new policy.
Cross checking with insurance and vehicle registration when the policy is cancelled for non-payment won’t change a thing. If you care so little about insurance, driving a car with a suspended registration won’t stop you.
Taking the car and having a mandatory period of no ownership, no license might help, after all losing an asset worth $$$ will get the attention of most.
“I think mandatory liability insurance is a tax on the poor,” said Carol Jordan, a professor of risk management and insurance at Troy University. “They don’t really need it. They don’t have assets to protect.”
I’m adding this to my list of the most ignorant, uninformed, self-serving, and anti-societal comments I’ve ever heard. Congrats Carol, you just beat Rosie O’Donnell on my list.
As for does insurance affect my buying decisions asked in another comment here… YES! And it should affect yours also. I puchased the car I drive now because the insurance was less (although the payments were the same for the car I really wanted).
Should buying food for your kids be more important than making an insurance payment. Of course, don’t make rediculous comments like that. Everyone had other expenses other than food for kids and insurance. Find some place to cut corners. I don’t have a personal cell phone because I like to eat.
Minimums below 25/50/25 are criminal and victims rights groups need to look at states that allow someone to drive without financial resonsibility. $5k of property damage (PA) is criminal and irresoponsible. $10k of bodily injury is the same.
Hey A-non, you totallly missed the point. Additionally, the limits of 25/50 you recommended are based upon what? The amount some politician has fed to you, the average hospital bill, your own experience as a PI attorney. Or you just think that’s good for you in case some schmuck hits you. Got news for you. It’s not near of enough for me and I really don’t care what the person driving next to me has or doesn’t has.
I travel to Alabama on business regularly. It’s tragic that, just when the state we make jokes about is raising its stature just a bit, dumba** comments like these are made. I’m glad for the heads up – I’ll increase my uninsured/underinsured coverage immediately.
Anon- I second your thoughts. In fact, I had just copied that statement and was ready to paste it into my post – you saved me the trouble.
Mark – You are missing an important concern here. If you are so poor that you have to make a choice between insurance and feeding children, you are not taking advantage of all those tax-payer supoorted programs out there to feed children.
Just this morning we had someone in the office who has been paying $20 a month in late fees for the last three years. Their insurance is paid for from tax payer monies and this person was not concerned about the late fees. The bank did not make the payment on time but it was of no concern to her. It didn’t come out of her pocket. Nope – it came out of mine and other tax payers.
Anyting an uninsured person has an accident, rather they cause it or not, you can bet that our money will be paying something. If they want a car – make sure they can afford it.
Buses and other public transportation is less expensive than owning a car – let them ride the bus or what ever.
And the state does not have a reasonable mechanism to ensure insuracne is in effect. Fix that and you are on your way to fixing the problem.
“Drivers who violate the mandatory insurance law must pay a $500 fine for a first offense, and up to $1,000 for a second offense.”
If I were a gambling man, why should I buy insurance? The likelyhood of being caught is relatively small and the fine is less than I would probably spend for insurnace.
I maintain that until you put real teeth into the law you will never get good compliance.
What is real teeth? Try taking the vehicles away. Not the license, not the tags, but the whole vehicle. Suddenly the incentive for having insurance just went up!
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What scares me is the quote “Bob Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America in Washington, D.C., said that poorer states like Alabama and Mississippi will have a greater percentage of uninsured drivers in part because those on the lower end of the income scale have less to protect, and more immediate financial needs. ”
What about the poor schmuck they hit. If they are too poor to purchase basic liability coverage than maybe they are too poor to have a car, pay for gas, etc.Being poor doesn’t put you above the law or make it right you ultimatley can cause anohter to suffer a financial burden.
Totally scary! Yes poor people don’t have money to pay for damages that they are liable for! That’s why you need insurance! Not to protect your own assets, but to protect others that you damage! I can’t believe the quote from the Professor of Risk Mangaement of Troy University. I feel sorry for the kids in that program.
When someone with very little means has to make a choice of buying auto insurance or buying their kids food, then the auto insurance will lose every time. And probably should. Does mandatory auto insurance actually affect your own buying decision? More specifically, do you make your insurance purchase and coverage selection based on what the other driver is “supposed” to carry in your state? No you probably don’t and neither do I. I can’t count on the person that hits me actually having a policy in force plus the state can’t create mandatory coverages that fit my needs. Yes, I know the argument of “we all pay or we pay more” when ininsured people hit us or we pay their hospital bills when they don’t carry insurance, but the fact is that’s already happening in mandatory states. Additionally, minumum mandatory BI coverages feed attorneys and Chiro’s more than they help you or me. In a perfect world, everyone has the means to pay for their insurance, acts responsibly, there is 100% enforcement, and everyone pays their fair share. But come to think of it, I bought my auto insurance policy because it’s not a perfect world.
Texas has this system in place – proof of insurance at time of purchase; execpt for private sales, but still needed for title transfer. We have proof of insurance needed at vehicle registration, safety inspection, and license renewal.
BIG LOOPHOLE – you can buy a policy and pay monthly premiums, Just pay for 1 month – renew registration and safety inspection, then pay no more premiums. Policy lapses.
Agents who should check for expiring insurance but don’t, strongly suspecting their new insured has done this charge a higher premium and write the new policy.
Cross checking with insurance and vehicle registration when the policy is cancelled for non-payment won’t change a thing. If you care so little about insurance, driving a car with a suspended registration won’t stop you.
Taking the car and having a mandatory period of no ownership, no license might help, after all losing an asset worth $$$ will get the attention of most.
“I think mandatory liability insurance is a tax on the poor,” said Carol Jordan, a professor of risk management and insurance at Troy University. “They don’t really need it. They don’t have assets to protect.”
I’m adding this to my list of the most ignorant, uninformed, self-serving, and anti-societal comments I’ve ever heard. Congrats Carol, you just beat Rosie O’Donnell on my list.
As for does insurance affect my buying decisions asked in another comment here… YES! And it should affect yours also. I puchased the car I drive now because the insurance was less (although the payments were the same for the car I really wanted).
Should buying food for your kids be more important than making an insurance payment. Of course, don’t make rediculous comments like that. Everyone had other expenses other than food for kids and insurance. Find some place to cut corners. I don’t have a personal cell phone because I like to eat.
Minimums below 25/50/25 are criminal and victims rights groups need to look at states that allow someone to drive without financial resonsibility. $5k of property damage (PA) is criminal and irresoponsible. $10k of bodily injury is the same.
Hey A-non, you totallly missed the point. Additionally, the limits of 25/50 you recommended are based upon what? The amount some politician has fed to you, the average hospital bill, your own experience as a PI attorney. Or you just think that’s good for you in case some schmuck hits you. Got news for you. It’s not near of enough for me and I really don’t care what the person driving next to me has or doesn’t has.
I travel to Alabama on business regularly. It’s tragic that, just when the state we make jokes about is raising its stature just a bit, dumba** comments like these are made. I’m glad for the heads up – I’ll increase my uninsured/underinsured coverage immediately.
It needs it if it makes you so vicious as evidenced by your post.
Did you learn that in law school?
Anon- I second your thoughts. In fact, I had just copied that statement and was ready to paste it into my post – you saved me the trouble.
Mark – You are missing an important concern here. If you are so poor that you have to make a choice between insurance and feeding children, you are not taking advantage of all those tax-payer supoorted programs out there to feed children.
Just this morning we had someone in the office who has been paying $20 a month in late fees for the last three years. Their insurance is paid for from tax payer monies and this person was not concerned about the late fees. The bank did not make the payment on time but it was of no concern to her. It didn’t come out of her pocket. Nope – it came out of mine and other tax payers.
Anyting an uninsured person has an accident, rather they cause it or not, you can bet that our money will be paying something. If they want a car – make sure they can afford it.
Buses and other public transportation is less expensive than owning a car – let them ride the bus or what ever.
And the state does not have a reasonable mechanism to ensure insuracne is in effect. Fix that and you are on your way to fixing the problem.
“Drivers who violate the mandatory insurance law must pay a $500 fine for a first offense, and up to $1,000 for a second offense.”
If I were a gambling man, why should I buy insurance? The likelyhood of being caught is relatively small and the fine is less than I would probably spend for insurnace.
I maintain that until you put real teeth into the law you will never get good compliance.
What is real teeth? Try taking the vehicles away. Not the license, not the tags, but the whole vehicle. Suddenly the incentive for having insurance just went up!