Insurance companies are scam

Posted on November 20, 2007
Filed Under General |

I don’t know how many times this has been said before but I know for sure that it will continue to be said as long as we put up with these companies: insurance companies are the biggest scam in the known universe.

On a daily basis, we are bombarded with advertising designed to target our biggest fears: the loss of our life or that of a family member, the loss of our health or our involvement in a car accident to name just the most obvious ones. The insurance companies are trying to convince us that terrible things are likely to happen to us and that if we want peace of mind then we should pay them a massive amount of money on a monthly basis. Why? because when the bad things happen, they will take care of us. Or at least, that is what they want us to believe.

You see, insurance companies are only willing to insure those with the smallest chance of having something bad happen to them. They will insure healthy people with no medical history because they are less likely to get sick. They will insure drivers that have lots of driving experience with no accidents because they are less likely to be involved in one. They will sell travelers flight insurance even though the chances of a plane crashing are lower than someone dying in a car accident. Speaking of that, the chances of someone dying in a plane, car or pedestrian accident are actually as follows according to a 2006 article on reason.com,

According to the National Safety Council, your one-year odds of dying in a car accident is about one out of 6500. Therefore your lifetime probability (6500 รท 78 years life expectancy) of dying in a motor accident are about one in 83.
What about your chances of dying in an airplane crash? A one-year risk of one in 400,000 and one in 5,000 lifetime risk. What about walking across the street? A one-year risk of one in 48,500 and a lifetime risk of one in 625. Drowning? A one-year risk of one in 88,000 and a one in 1100 lifetime risk. In a fire? About the same risk as drowning. Murder? A one-year risk of one in 16,500 and a lifetime risk of one in 210. What about falling? Essentially the same as being murdered. And the proverbial being struck by lightning? A one-year risk of one in 6.2 million and a lifetime risk of one in 80,000.

So, you can buy insurance for flying even though it is 8 times more likely that you will get killed crossing the street. I don’t recall anyone selling insurance for that! Guess why. The insurance companies make massive amounts of money selling insurance for events that are not likely to occur; it is like we are voluntarily handing to them our hard earned money on a monthly schedule. Hell, if you pay me $100 per month, I will be more than happy to insure you for the event of you dying crossing the street; how does a $500,000 pay-off for your loved ones sound like? I’m sure they will all be fighting as to who will have the privilege of pushing you in front of that passing truck.

At any rate, health insurance companies are the same. If you watched Michael Moore’s most recent movie Sicko exploring the deficiencies of the US health care system then you know what I am talking about. I have had a similar experience with my health insurance company just recently, an event that prompted me to write this article.

The hell with insurance companies and the scam they are. We all need to wake up and stand up for ourselves against such dishonest people.

Comments

Leave a Reply




Your Ad Here
Looking for Southampton bungalows for sale and rent advice? See here.