who drives WITHOUT insurance? poll

[Captain Stubing]

I remember a few years ago, my sis-in-law borrowed my Dad's '82 Rodeo ute, and she T-boned an ambulance, which was transporting a heart-attack victim.

A couple of thousand to the front end of the Rodeo, and I think it was 90K to the ambulance! Thank god for the third party insurance my dad had!

[loxxr6]

I'll be self insuring myself in the future....getting 3rd party, fire and theft and keeping the change from full comp

I've heard a lot of the ricers go TPPD only and get a tracking alarm system and if their cars get vandalised they just wear it. This way covers most bases if things go wrong.

If Sox's mate is in a position where he can cover accidents etc outta his money then that's his own decision. I def wouldn't do that myself but for those in that situation that can afford it, good luck to them.

For the small cost of TPPD its still worth every cent.

[Yaw]

Originally Posted by Dez

i think cars that are more likely to be stolen (ie older cars, or more popular models) attract a higher premium...


im pretty sure the car you drive has something to do with it ;)

my car, because its called a TX5, attracts a higher premium than just a normal telstar

There is more than just a Car involved. there are sevral main points with underwriting a risk.
1. postcode where the car lives.
IE. (most regulalry driven in, most incedets happen 5 minutes from home)
Claim statistics for the area are used to calculate risk for that part. To give an example of this I did a change of address for a lady the other day. She moved from Sandgate (outer brisbane edge suburb) to Ascot (inner brisbane suburb) the difference was $135 extra to pay in premium.
Its not just thefts or crimes in an area its CLAIMS in an area. if there are a lot of claims in that area your premium will be higher. I really feel sorry for some of you guys in Sydney and some Melbourne suburbs like clayton that pay 2-3 times more than us in QLD.

2. The type of car....make model etc.
Once again CLAIM statistics for that particular model are used. Be that theft or accident claims. Some cars do cost more to repair also. an intersesting story here is a realitivly small calim hardly ever exisits anymore with the added saftey equipment most cars have. a side air bag for instance that goes off in an accident may infact cost an insurance compay $7000 to replace the whole seat that has the air bag in it. (yes that needs to be figured in too) Not to mention perhaps YOU might be the one at fault, your insurance needs to factor those kind of things in to fix the other persons car.
Until you get up to a $80,000-$90,000 car the value of the car has little to do with it. That is to say a crappy mazda 323 worth $1500 can in fact work out with a $3000 per year insurance if all factors make it that way, ie post code, age of driver, etc etc. Seems strange I know but it happens.

3. Age of driver and Gender of driver. (females generally have cheaper premiums due to usually claims they have are cheaper to fix or not as bad as thier male counterparts) Once again CLAIM statistics.
Heard it all before about how a 17 year old driver may be a better driver than someone older so please spare me the rubbish. FACT is 17-25 year olds have the HIGHEST claim rates. From there it appears to work in age groups.
once you hit 30 premiums subside a little more. they stay pretty level till you reach the grand old age of 65-70 st that point premiums start to increase again as you guessed it CLAIM STATISTICS state those drivers start to have claims again. Then you get the argument "I've been driving for years and had no claims and paid insurance all those years, does'nt that come into consideration? " Well short answer is YES. Insurance companies don't charge like your 17 all over again, your still getting a better premium.

4. other drivers of the car. This is for those that think you can insure in someone elses name and get a better premium. Once again complete and utter rubbish. Premiums are worked off the YOUNGEST LISTED DRIVER.
why ? read answer to point 3. It don't matter who owns the car or who its name it is registered in. What happens at claim time in this situation where a car is insured in someone elses name. It gets investigated in depth. all policy holders will be interviewed, all witness's interviewed, and at the end of the day prior to the claim being approved one of two things may happen.
(A) Depending on the company they may decide to refund your policy premium and say you failed to disclose this info and pay the correct premium therfore we never had the correct policy for you.
(b) they may make you pay the extra premium you should have paid in the first place before they will settle the claim.
Your choice if you want to risk it. *shrugs*

5. Mods and accessories.
Its got NOTHING to do with saftey here. its has to do with MONEY.
You tell an insurance company I have a BA Falcon sedan. Whatever the particular model is. That is what they base the premium on. If however you have a $3000 set of mags, or an aftermarket spolier or a $5000 stereo they are all extra's that need to be covered so it stands to reason you would need to pay a higher premium. (once again fail to disclose and the same scenrios at claim time as pointed out in point 4 might happen.) Why then are younger drivers limited to the amount of MODS ? Because they have higher CLAIM STATISTICS.


6. Driver history.
There really should be no reason to go into this as it speaks for iteself.
Yes accidents happen, we all have them, but insurance companies want to know about driving history between 3-5 years worth....why?
Well you get a 19 years old call about insurance, lets for arguments sake hes had 1 accident in 2 years. he ran up the back of another car that stopped in front of him. Yeah ok its an accident, hes probably learnt his lesson. I would accept that.
You could get another 19 years old that in the last 2 years has had 4-5 accidents. all at fault, hrmmmm I wonder what this tells me?
I would be digging into each and every one of those accidents, asking all the details and if they were all at fault it may be a risk not worth the insurance comapny taking on and decline insurance. If not a very high premium would be payable due to the risk involved with the persons proven record.

7. Finance can also affect your premium. secured loans, lease or bill of sale, chattel mortgage will all increase a premium.
It can add a small amount to a premium, sometimes no difference.
But with any one of these types of finace there is a "other party" with a finacial intrest in the car, adding admid cost. In the case of a lease however that can usually add $50-150 to premium. due to the fact its never really your car that you are insuring, the leasing company owns the car, not you. And I'm sure we all know you tend to look after your own stuff better than some elses.

I have 1 more :
Motorcycle insurance.
If you don't have it or can't afford it THIRD PARTY PROPERTY damage is also available for motor cycle, only exception there is no fire and theft is available.
If you don't care about your vehicle care about someone elses.

[mutanti]

well my laser (the other car my other half drives) has been involved in 3 claims in last 12 months, None of them my other halfs fault.
some drongo hit her in a car park at supermarket causing around $700 damage.
then we copped the hail damage a few months back $2700 damage.
and while taking the other half to doctors in melb(St Albans) for sinititis or whatever its called had another drongo hit the car in the carpark damaging the rear bumper. so its going back in again.
the guy im melb diddnt have a brain cell and if he had realised would have driven off. luckly the car was still parked beside my laser with the matching damage to his front bumper. while on the phone to insurance he returned to the car and i managed to get his details only to find out he was driving around on his learners with his wife and kid in back seat (South africian with a weird name)
so far i havnt lost my rating one as none were my fault but lost my no claim due to the hail damage.

[XA-Coupe]

Originally Posted by Sox

What is he gambling though?
If he hits you and your vehicle is a total loss, your insurance company pays you out and goes after him, what's the problem for you?
The insurance company will extract whatever the courts deem is adequate out of him, which in his case wouldn't just be $20 a week (not that it would be of any consequence to you anyway).

I don't quite see why this is such a great problem for you, I mean you, and most others clearly stated you won't drive without insurance, so what have you to worry about?

Just as an example to the above, my wife was involved in a head on a few years ago, she wasn't at fault, the other driver was drunk.
The other drivers insurance was wiped because of this, however it didn't effect us in any way whatsoever, we were paid out by our insurer, and they of course went after the drunk driver.

Now if the above driver had of been uninsured, the outcome for us would have been the same.

Rick.

You are of course assuming he hit's my car. I do have other things that can be wiped out by a car as would a lot of other people.

[YOOT]

I drove my brand new XR6 Turbo for 4 weeks with out any insurance at all. It was not my fault, I signed the insurance form and was told I couldn't pick up the car until I had it insured.

When the dealer rang me and said every thing has been accepted, I ppicked it up.

4 weeks later I rang the insurance to enquire about mods, and it was then that they told me that I didn't exist on their system. Only the quote number was on there.

I was mighty ****ed - so I told them to forget it and swapped to just cars who were $300 cheaper and support unlimited mods!

[Sox]

Originally Posted by XA Coupe

You are of course assuming he hit's my car. I do have other things that can be wiped out by a car as would a lot of other people.

Such as?

Rick.

[XA-Coupe]

Houses, contents which cannot be insured. I have some items that can't be insured .. or more to the point won't be. I have seen enough cars in houses to know it happens all to frequently. Cars under restoration, and no doubt other things I haven't thought of.
Should for any reason my insurance decide to try and screw me ( as happens ) then I ( the mythical 'I' because I don't see the chances of me running into your friend happening ) am screwed... especially if he happens to die. It coyuld be years before I saw any money. All because he was too tight to pay up.
I

[Sox]

Originally Posted by XA Coupe

Houses, contents which cannot be insured. I have some items that can't be insured .. or more to the point won't be. I have seen enough cars in houses to know it happens all to frequently. Cars under restoration, and no doubt other things I haven't thought of.
Should for any reason my insurance decide to try and screw me ( as happens ) then I ( the mythical 'I' because I don't see the chances of me running into your friend happening ) am screwed... especially if he happens to die. It coyuld be years before I saw any money. All because he was too tight to pay up.
I

Well, I don't look at this as serious at all, yeh sure, you've seen it, and I may have even seen it on the odd occasion, however it is very rare in comparison to normal road accidents involving just motor vehicles.

I guess that's just a chance he's prepared to take, and suffer the consequences if he hits this elusive house.

That IMO, doesn't make him a fool, it's just his decision.

Rick.

[XA-Coupe]

All I can say is I hope his luck continues and when he does hit something he won't leave some poor bastard out of pocket.
Compared to road accidents it is rare but it's by no means uncommon.
My problem is that it's not just his money etc that he is prepared to take a chance with .. otherwise I wouldn't care.

[brenx]

EL = yes full comp
Hyundai = yes full comp
XB = nope (no-one will cover it for the $ I'd need to replace it).

[GTP 320]

As far as i am concerned Insurance should be compulsory for all car owners as in Switzerland for e.g. and if everybody was insured the Insurance rates would come down and make it more affordable for everyone.
Cheers John

[Yaw]

Originally Posted by YOOT

I drove my brand new XR6 Turbo for 4 weeks with out any insurance at all. It was not my fault, I signed the insurance form and was told I couldn't pick up the car until I had it insured.

When the dealer rang me and said every thing has been accepted, I ppicked it up.

4 weeks later I rang the insurance to enquire about mods, and it was then that they told me that I didn't exist on their system. Only the quote number was on there.

I was mighty ****ed - so I told them to forget it and swapped to just cars who were $300 cheaper and support unlimited mods!

NEVER RELY ON THE DEALER TO GET YOU INSURANCE.
90% of the time they get it wrong. Remember the dealer just wants to sell a car, when he rings for a quote on your behalf he has NO IDEA of you driving history, how long you have been licened. At best its an educated guess on thier behalf.

[rag top]

Originally Posted by Yaw

NEVER RELY ON THE DEALER TO GET YOU INSURANCE.
90% of the time they get it wrong. Remember the dealer just wants to sell a car, when he rings for a quote on your behalf he has NO IDEA of you driving history, how long you have been licened. At best its an educated guess on thier behalf.

Too true. When I was younger, the car dealer/insurance company stuffed up, and had me listed as driving a 6 cylinder instead of an 8 cylinder. It wasn't until I got the renewal when the full details were disclosed to me, and the mistake was identified. :

[jabba]

Originally Posted by GTP 320

As far as i am concerned Insurance should be compulsory for all car owners as in Switzerland for e.g. and if everybody was insured the Insurance rates would come down and make it more affordable for everyone.
Cheers John

Thats a bloody good call. And I will second that.. And to anyone who thinks thats it's to harsh. well wait untill you get hit by an uninsured car and then tell me what you think...

Matt
I Hate uninsured drivers....

[rag top]

Originally Posted by jabba

Thats a bloody good call. And I will second that.. And to anyone who thinks thats it's to harsh. well wait untill you get hit by an uninsured car and then tell me what you think...

Matt
I Hate uninsured drivers....

The switzerland model is a little flawed - if a driver hits another car whilst DUI, then his insurance is void. Then it becomes the same as driving uninsured. Good in theory, but does not provide cover in all circumstances.

[Dez]

Originally Posted by Sox

I guess that's just a chance he's prepared to take, and suffer the consequences if he hits this elusive house.


Rick.

Its not just him taking a risk with his own money, as XA Coupe is continually trying to point out to you, if he hits a house etc, stuff that cant be insured, and dies for example, then that person is out of pocket. Your mate could ruin it for someone else who doesn't have a massive amount of money to pay for un-expected damages

[Sox]

Originally Posted by Dez

Its not just him taking a risk with his own money, as XA Coupe is continually trying to point out to you, if he hits a house etc, stuff that cant be insured, and dies for example, then that person is out of pocket. Your mate could ruin it for someone else who doesn't have a massive amount of money to pay for un-expected damages

And as I've continually said to 'XA Coupe', most of this stuff is insured, houses certainly are. And the possibility of these accidents are very low indeed, contrary to what he or you think.

Also, my friend has family, who in the event of death would then be liable for what ever isn't covered by the victims insurance.

In todays legal system, there is always someone to point the finger at and sue.

It doesn't matter anyway, my views won't change on this, and I suspect yours won't either.

Rick.

[Dez]

Originally Posted by Sox

And as I've continually said to 'XA Coupe', most of this stuff is insured, houses certainly are. And the possibility of these accidents are very low indeed, contrary to what he or you think.

Also, my friend has family, who in the event of death would then be liable for what ever isn't covered by the victims insurance.

In todays legal system, there is always someone to point the finger at and sue.

It doesn't matter anyway, my views won't change on this, and I suspect yours won't either.

Rick.

thats fine ...we all have our own opinions...

you mention that his family would be liable. So he is not only risking other innocent bystanders property, but his family's as well...

[Sox]

Originally Posted by Dez

thats fine ...we all have our own opinions...

you mention that his family would be liable. So he is not only risking other innocent bystanders property, but his family's as well...

His family is liable in the sense they can use his assets to cover costs in the event of death.

And I'm sure they won't have a problem with it anyhow, particularly if they are also not insured, they may have just the same viewpoint.

EDIT: I also feel that if someone has something that is supposedly uninsurable or they simply don't want to insure it, as 'XA Coupe' claims, then perhaps they shouldn't leave it in a vulnerable position for people who drive uninsured to have an accident with easily.

I know if I had something that was valuable to me, no one would have easy access to it, and it certainly wouldn't be left close to the street for someone to hit it, as it would **** me off whether they were insured or not.

An example being my motorbikes, they are only 3rd party property insured, so theft could be a concern.
Where I have them stored and locked up however, I'm definitely not concerned, as I have my own 'insurance policy', and it ain't with an insurance company.

Rick.

[Falcon Coupe]

Originally Posted by XA Coupe

edit: I am dismayed that there are at least three people on this forum with no insurance

Agreed.....Ban them !

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by buickman

To those 7 who can't afford it and the 3 who would rather **** their money down the drain.
If a uninsured person hit me and was in the wrong I would not even wast my time asking for quotes. Instead ring my insurance with thier details and let the insurance company deal with getting the money out of them for fixing my car and suppling a hire car until the car is repaired. Not having any insurance at all is maddness.
buickman

Exactly. Was rear-ended once by someone with no insurance. Had to be towed. Filled in the NRMA paperwork, the smash repair authorised a loan car. 2 weeks later got a phone call telling me my car was repaired and ready to drive away.

That's all I had to do.

[RED_EL_XR8]

Originally Posted by Sox

It doesn't matter anyway, my views won't change on this, and I suspect yours won't either.

Rick.

I dont know about that Dez's view usually changes within a single post and more often throughout a thread!

On something more useful it appears we have around 10% of respondents uninsured and taking the risk. I've have two instances of my vehicles being damaged by uninsured driver, with me having to either take a hit on my own insurance or cough up the costs of repair myself. I can quote many similar instances from friends and family including one of those elusive houses that noone believes can get hit. Personally it happens again I dont care what the cost I will pursue the driver and registered owner indefinately, I dont care if it is 10 times the repair cost, the will pay $20/week or whatever plus court costs, fines for default whatever, they are going to pay.

THe other gem that has me worried is the brainwave state government had of cancelling registration for such things as unpaid parking fines, or street menace, this leaves me again at the mercy of unregistered, unlicenced oand subsequently uninsured drivers. There are many instances where the offender will have no idea the are unregistered and uninsured until a traffic incident. Why should I be put at risk by this half assed legislation?

[Sox]

Originally Posted by RED_EL_XR8

I dont know about that Dez's view usually changes within a single post and more often throughout a thread!

LOL!

On something more useful it appears we have around 10% of respondents uninsured and taking the risk. I've have two instances of my vehicles being damaged by uninsured driver, with me having to either take a hit on my own insurance or cough up the costs of repair myself. I can quote many similar instances from friends and family including one of those elusive houses that noone believes can get hit.

I never said it doesn't happen, though you have to acknowledge that it is very rare in comparison to motor vehicle accidents.
I would hazard a guess that a good many of these types of accidents are because of negligent driving or DUI, in this event, there insurance would be void anyhow.
Though I'll stand corrected on that if someone has evidence to the contrary.

Personally it happens again I dont care what the cost I will pursue the driver and registered owner indefinately, I dont care if it is 10 times the repair cost, the will pay $20/week or whatever plus court costs, fines for default whatever, they are going to pay.

As you have every right to.

THe other gem that has me worried is the brainwave state government had of cancelling registration for such things as unpaid parking fines, or street menace, this leaves me again at the mercy of unregistered, unlicenced oand subsequently uninsured drivers. There are many instances where the offender will have no idea the are unregistered and uninsured until a traffic incident. Why should I be put at risk by this half assed legislation?

Well, I tend to agree with you on part of that, the part where the government sucks at least.

I don't agree with compulsory insurance, we only need to go back through history and see how much has changed. We make too many things compulsory and before we know it we'll all be driving Hyundai Excels.

Rick.

[RED_EL_XR8]

Originally Posted by Sox

I never said it doesn't happen, though you have to acknowledge that it is very rare in comparison to motor vehicle accidents.
I would hazard a guess that a good many of these types of accidents are because of negligent driving or DUI, in this event, there insurance would be void anyhow.
Though I'll stand corrected on that if someone has evidence to the contrary.

No corrections about it and every policy will exclude DUI, which I agree is probably still the largest contributor of the big ones, drugs, fatigue, stupidity not excluded. Its pretty tough after getting clipped by a drunk driver to then find out it will be your policy which will be funding repair. And as much as the insurance industry would like convince us differently it ultimately costs in higher premiums etc for driver who were not at fault.

I have no problem with the self insure concept, and for those of means it can be viable, policy or not they are effectively insured, but I'd like to see all those other uninsured risk takers taken off the roads. Those who misguidedly believe they are such skilled drivers that it will never, it will! A box full of "I told you so's" or "sorry mate's" doesn't repair someone elses car!

[Sox]

Originally Posted by RED_EL_XR8

No corrections about it and every policy will exclude DUI, which I agree is probably still the largest contributor of the big ones, drugs, fatigue, stupidity not excluded. Its pretty tough after getting clipped by a drunk driver to then find out it will be your policy which will be funding repair.

Perhaps, but still far better than not being covered at all, yet some here insist that it is something devastating if they get hit by an uninsured vehicle.
The driver not at fault will still have his vehicle replaced or repaired, it makes little difference to him. At worst, they 'may' have to pay an excess.

(Which is what happened a few years ago to my wife, see an earlier post).

And as much as the insurance industry would like convince us differently it ultimately costs in higher premiums etc for driver who were not at fault.

I have no problem with the self insure concept, and for those of means it can be viable, policy or not they are effectively insured, but I'd like to see all those other uninsured risk takers taken off the roads. Those who misguidedly believe they are such skilled drivers that it will never, it will! A box full of "I told you so's" or "sorry mate's" doesn't repair someone elses car!

Of course, I'm not condoning the 'sorry mate' attitude, people need to be responsible for there actions, however just because someone doesn't have insurance doesn't mean they won't be.

Though I'll readily admit many aren't responsible, though really, those sort of people are beyond help anyway. Compulsory insurance will likely not help either because there car is probably not roadworthy, or they are DUI.

Catch 22.

Rick.

[RED_EL_XR8]

Yet some here insist that it is something devastating if they get hit by an uninsured vehicle.
The driver not at fault will still have his vehicle replaced or repaired, it makes little difference to him. At worst, they 'may' have to pay an excess.[/QUOTE]It can be! Its bad enough when both vehicles are covered by the same insurer. And all the NCB for life is rubbish, whats the point of 70% if the premiums are adjusted accordingly. You cost your insurer and they will do anything to get the $$ back. Even no fault accidents add to your risk assessment.

Originally Posted by Sox

Of course, I'm not condoning the 'sorry mate' attitude, people need to be responsible for there actions, however just because someone doesn't have insurance doesn't mean they won't be.

I dont think for a moment you were condoning such attitudes. Unfortunately a lot of honest people put themselves and those they caused damage to, years of heartache as they pay back week by week the damage they never expected.

Originally Posted by Sox

Though I'll readily admit many aren't responsible, though really, those sort of people are beyond help anyway. Compulsory insurance will likely not help either because there car is probably not roadworthy, or they are DUI.

Catch 22.

Rick.

Yeah these ones are the real bother, but if compulsary 3rd party property gets even a few of these neglected heaps of the road its a good thing. And in NSW at least with annual inspection, it wouldn't be that hard to request another insurance document before issue of rego and sticker.

Catch 22 alright, half these clowns dont even justify the oxygen they consume.

[FordFan86]

I have full comp... dad wouldn't let me touch the car till i had insurance... depends on the type of car you drive aswell, if i had an old bomb (no offence to anyone here) i would just get the bare minimum.

[LUXO_8]

Originally Posted by FordFan86

I have full comp... dad wouldn't let me touch the car till i had insurance... depends on the type of car you drive aswell, if i had an old bomb (no offence to anyone here) i would just get the bare minimum.

just to compare cos we have similar cars, who you with?, how old are you, how long ya been driving, etc

[BlueRaven]

This was probably said before, but if it wasn't I'll say it first.

If you own a nice car but can't afford the insurance...then you shouldn't own the car.
Period.

As an absolute minimum, you should have third party fire and theft (which in the perfect world would be compulsory)