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WHY IS INSURANCE COMPULSORY? - 1litregolfeater

For example, South Africa, they seem to get along fine.

The compulsory insurance in this country is just a licence for the Banks to rip us off!

WHY IS INSURANCE COMPULSORY? - bonzo dog

Insurance isn't compulsary (& yes, I do know what you actually mean but why phrase it in such a negative emotional way?)

Driving a motor vehicle requires compulsary insurance as the consequences can be & frequently are disasterous to an innocent party & the financial liability to the driver can be & frequently is so vast that no individual except for the super rich will have the assets to meet these liabilities. It is to protect the innocent.

Obviously now we have compulsary insurance simply for car ownership where the car is not being driven. This is an attempt to reduce the number of uninsured drivers: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13836625

Personally I disagree with this method as I don't see why a car should be insured when it poses no risk. The way around the uninsured driver problem is to throw uninsured drivers in clink for 10 years. But as there is no way this will happen ......

WHY IS INSURANCE COMPULSORY? - jamie745

Also its rare to see the maximum sentance given for such offences, a judge could hand out a 5k fine and 6 months in prison for driving without a licence, but they dont.

I agree with the principles of insurance and i agree it is (or at least originally it was) to protect the innocent. But now its reached a point where its exploited by criminals and the motorist seen as a cash cow by both the Government and the banks which own the insurance firms that it cant help feel like the innocent are being punished. Personally i think if a crash wasnt your fault you shouldnt need to worry about anything, but in a country where criminal scum gets legal aid and the innocent people have to empty their savings to get justice, thats sadly unworkable here.

What i will say is it would be interesting to see what insurance firms do if it were not compulsory. Right now they can charge what they like as their best mates (Mr Govt) will force the public to use them, they say theres 1.4m uninsured, instead of bleating, Insurance firms should be grateful its compulsory because otherwise it'd be 20million. If they were suddenly put in a position where they had to try and sell a product we dont need it would be interesting. The RAC recently did a survey on which they found around 70% of drivers would drive without insurance if it were an option. Seeing insurance companies battle to drive prices down in a desperate bid to sell us things we dont need would be nice, it would take them out of their comfort zone. And maybe if people didnt have an insurance company telling them to never admit fault and make the system easy for people to cause crashes on purpose and milk the innocent, it might force people to act more responsibly, without the 'safety net' as you will.

I dont expect it to happen but it would be interesting to see the takeup if it were not compulsory. Would people suddenly see the benefits of it and go "actually ill still insure my car"?

WHY IS INSURANCE COMPULSORY? - Duncan112

I firmly believe that courts are not hard enough on the criminals that drive without insurance - it's surely nonsensical that the fine for driving without insurance is less than the cost of insurance!!

Countries like New Zealand where insurance is not compulsory have a government backed injury tarriff - there is a "price list" for injuries and the "insurance" is funded by a earning or profit levy. This keeps the ambulance chasers out of the equation.

Insurance for property damage is voluntary (and reasonable)

WHY IS INSURANCE COMPULSORY? - jamie745

Its interesting you say that because the maximum a judge could hand out for driving without insurance is a £5000 fine. How often do you see that actually given out?

So are you saying that basically the lack of a "price list" system in Britain results in the situation basically being attacked from all sides, left open as a free for all for everybody to stick their finger in the pie and jacks up the price of compensation etc as a result of that?

WHY IS INSURANCE COMPULSORY? - Duncan112

I live in Lancashire which is apparently one of the "hot spots" for uninsured drivers. According to the court reports in the local paper the normal fine for uninsured drivers is around £250 to 350. My car insurance (full NCD) is around £600. I have never seen anyone fined more than £500 for no insurance (Maybe the paper didn't report the larger ones)

I would like to see a 2 tier fine system for uninsured drivers, the criminal penalty which will, as at present be based on salary etc and a second penalty of, say 4 times what it would cost for the insurance, this to be paid to the motor insurers bureau to go towards the uninsured loss system.

In answer to the second part of your query, yes I do believe that ambul;ance chasing lawyers and the companies that "sort out" your claim have a lot to answer for with the current ever rising cost of insurance.

WHY IS INSURANCE COMPULSORY? - Vitesse6

I suppose that one problem with large fines is that if the guilty party has no money then they can't collect the fine from them. I hope that their cars are confiscated and crushed without exception, as that is surely the best way of stopping them from doing it again!

WHY IS INSURANCE COMPULSORY? - Vitesse6

Duplicate posting!

Edited by Vitesse6 on 27/07/2011 at 12:26

WHY IS INSURANCE COMPULSORY? - jamie745

Crushing the car only gets rid of the car. It doesnt stop the driver acquiring another one by whatever means and committing the crime again does it? I dont see why the car should have to suffer, wasnt the car that committed the crime was it?