Driving habits of rural folk

[Frankenkubota]

The original purpose of "no-fault" insurance was to greatly reduce the amount of lawsuits involved in car accidents, and each party's insurance would pay for their own medical bills regardless of who caused the accident.
The exceptions, and there were always exceptions...were terrible injuries, permanent disability, severe scarring, etc. Normally if one had 10 grand in medical bills, a plaintiff attorney could sue for five to ten times that and collect. Not with No Fault.

If some one runs a red light and hits you, clearly their fault. Problem is lots of accidents have some shared responsibility, what they call contributory negligence. So attorneys and courts try to figure out who pays what percentage of the loss. Allstate got into a lot of trouble many years ago (and since I believe has a fine reputation) for offering the other party only 90 percent of the rightful amount, claiming partial contributory negligence, and hoping no one would take the time to fight them in court. I think California attorney general put an end to that practice.
If you have collision coverage on your own car, your carrier pays your claim and then "subrogates" (recovers) its money and your deductible from other party. The problem is if your company is lazy and is willing to take less, and you have no say about it at all. What is right and what is expedient are not the same thing in many cases, and insurance companies are always trying to reduce the total claim payout, if they can do so legally. In fact claims guys are evaluated on how well they "mitigate the loss".

Car and truck accidents are big business, particularly those involving big trucks since they are almost always well insured. Lots of videos online about scammers brake checking big rigs, wanting to get into an accident and then feed a local PI attorney. In no fault states, that doesn't happen anywhere near as much.

back to regular programming...

Thank you for that but.

I smell a rat. I could’ be speaking for a bunch of you but, all I do is pay pay pay. I have not had nor caused an accident in forever but I pay pay pay. I do not go to the doctor unless necessary and refuse to get on the Medicare merry go round, even if it is free, which it ain’t.

I was in the imaging business late in my career and believe it or not, I actually read some of the trade journals.

This was a few years ago but the article said, only 1 medical procedure has gone down in price.

That was lasic surgery. The only reason it went down in price was, according to the article, it’s not covered by insurance so guess what. There is an actual incentive to improve, called competition.

As impressive as our medical system is, and believe me, it is. They are the most wasteful people I’ve ever seen, them and politicians and that’s simply because they are not paying, it’s not their money, insurance will cover it.

Problem is, because of human nature, there is no real solution.

 

[5030]

Can any one tell me how no fault insurance works? There is almost no such thing as an accident, itç—´ usually some ones fault.

Again, sounds like a regression to the lowest common denominator to me.

Pretty easy really..... No matter if it's your fault an 'accident' happens, it's NOT YOUT FAULT. Of course the insured rates are higher because the carrier pays out more in claims but with an industry average of 46% profit, I'm sure they won't go bankrupt. In fact I've never heard of any insurance company filing for bankruptcy because of excessive claims. Nice business to be in.

The other offshoot of No Fault is the reduction of 'ambulance chaser' attorneys, attorneys who specialize in personal injury litigation, you know them, they pander their services on billboards touting big settlements for personal injury suits. In the end someone pays however, usually with higher insurance premium rates.

My other pet peeve is the term accident. I admit that some are actually accidently caused but most are 'on purpose', caused by one party not obeying the motor vehicle laws or acting irresponsible.

 

[Industrial Toys]

The insurance may be called no fault, but I don't get it. Your insurance company still holds an at fault accident against you. And you can still sue someone for an accident, enter the lawyers anyway. Some lady sued my Mom for 6 million for rear ending her. Took years for that to go through the courts.

 

[Jstpssng]

All that I know is when my insurers found out that I was doing work in NY, I lost my GL policy and to get a new one my rates went from just under $300 to a little over $1800 per year.

 

[daugen]

All that I know is when my insurers found out that I was doing work in NY, I lost my GL policy and to get a new one my rates went from just under $300 to a little over $1800 per year.

300 dollars is usually the minimum premium on a commercial policy. You went from a preferred low risk state to a very litigious state and they sure charge a lot more for that it appears.
This is why I sold my agency and bought a Radio Shack, everyone left with a smile...

btw, look towards the bottom of this and see percentage return on revenue. Previously quoted/guessed at info is simply way off.
https://www.naic.org/documents/topic_insurance_industry_snapshots_2017_industry_analysis_reports.pdf
The insurance business is extremely competitive, plain and simple and market share is not gained by charging premiums much higher than others.
At issue is why the claims are so large, and the problem is us.
My apologies to OP for getting off track here.

 

[5030]

The insurance may be called no fault, but I don't get it. Your insurance company still holds an at fault accident against you. And you can still sue someone for an accident, enter the lawyers anyway. Some lady sued my Mom for 6 million for rear ending her. Took years for that to go through the courts.

Fair statement but with 'no fault', the attorneys (aka: ambulance chasers), get cut out almost entirely because you cannot sue for PI. You have to litigate against your own carrier and that may not be a good idea.

In this state (Michigan), insurance rates were the highest in the country but we just had an insurance reform package passed by the legislature that reduced my premiums by 70% which is all well and good with me.

One thing about Michigan (not sure about other states) is, if you own and operate a farm (which we do) and insure under a farm policy (which we do, both real estate and auto), the insurance company cannot cancel you under Michigan Right to Farm. Here in Michigan, an individual if, they have more than 3 claims in 5 years, the carrier can cancel the policy without prior notice and then the individual has to insure through the 'high risk' pool and it's super expensive. Kind of like the Federal Income Tax game. Know how to play and you save lots of jack. While insurance is still expensive anywhere, it don't have to break your wallet if, you know how the game is played.

My insurance agent is my neighbor so I'm not about to do anything that isn't above board. I cannot operate without being insured, I have way too much to loose.

I am glad I don't live in an urban area. Urban areas in Michigan pay way more than rural areas.

Additionally, under the insurance reform, carriers cannot base your premium on a credit score either. Bad credit don't equate to a higher risk in my view.

 

[5030]

The ONLY time you can sue is if the incurred expenses and 'pain and suffering' exceed the limits of your policy and even then it has to be reviewed by the Michigan Insurance oversight board.


So no, you cannot 'just sue'. No fault has it's advantages, the big one is frivolous lawsuits.

 

[turnkey4099]

Driving through Victoria , Texas. and had stopped at a red light. When the light turned green was immediately hit from behind hard enough the bumpers locked over my rear bumper. Police arrived and we separated the vehicles. . Then the officer told me he knew the lady driving the car that hit mine .she worked for a laundry .and large family, no insurance, and borrowed a car with weak breaks. no rubber on the tires. the list was long. but boiled down if you can repair your car there will be no ticket for causing an accident. Told office that mashed in trunk damaged tail lights will be glad to travel on and remember the city,
so far have never returned to check if improved.
ken

I have only hit one car. I was on the way home on furlough (2,000 mile drive) Pulled out of Roswell NM westbourn, hit 65 (limit 60), 4 lanes (2 each way) no traffic except a car going around a curve ahead of me. Grabbed map to do a quick check, looked up, car BACKING UP AROUND THAT CORNER. No time to do anything but bomb the brakes. barely touched him as I came to a stop. Only a minor ding on my bumper, none on him. We agreed to part company. I pulled arouind him, check the mirror and he was BACKING UP IN THE LANE AGAIN!

 

[turnkey4099]

I cordially invite you to come out here and drive my car around the hills in my area so you can determine if it's my imagination. I'm having a hard time understanding how someone sitting in a chair in front of a computer halfway across the country can determine that my personal experiences are only my imagination.

I was referring to your desertation on how CC works, not on whether it is a good thing to use on crooked twisty roads. i Just came home from a 30 mile drive on such roads and me cc was off most of the way.

 

[turnkey4099]

It holds my speed 99% of the time, it keeps me in the flow of traffic, people coming up behind me or people that I'm passing don't have to contend with my speed changing, etc... my consistency helps everyone else have to deal with one less thing and vice versa.

Yep. I follow the advice of he safety experts. Pull onto highway get up to traffic speed, whatever it is. Punch CC and enjoyi the trip. Usually won't bother to pass someone going a bit slower unless I am on a looonnng drive. My philosophy is to drive causing the least amouint of problems for the other people on the road. Cruising the 'speed of prevailing traffic" does that.