to think there should be government run car insurance policies

[moogster1a]

Looking at the horrendous stories of car insurance doubling and trebling by robbing bastard insurance firms,why is there not a government non profit scheme for car insurance?
It's something we have to have by law so why is there not the option of paying into a non profit scheme?
the ideal would be that the premiums would be effectively limited and rise in line with inflation. I'm sure that would do a lot to get more people insuring cars as at the moment lot of young men simply can't afford the ridiculous prices.

DH? Is that you?

The last time the government tried to run a financial services product it wasn't exactly a success. Public sector pensions...?

Insurance companies respond to statistics. Young men are the most dangerous group of drivers on the roads statistically and we are safest statistically when fewer of them are on the road.

And I say this as the mother of a teenage boy who can't wait to learn to drive.

I'd like them to stick the insurance fee's in with petrol. That way no one could get away without being insured or taxed as they have to put petrol in to make the car useable.

No idea how they'd set up such a system though.

Butt they won't be responding to statistics from June. They are putting up women's rates to bring them in line with mens under direction from the EU.

"I'd like them to stick the insurance fee's in with petrol. "

That's not a bad idea actually.

They should also get rid of road tax and bung that onto fuel too. more you drive, more you pay.

But why should I pay the same as a teenage boy (or girl) as would be the case if it were done via fuel? I'm safer. I've spent decades experiencing differing driving conditions and I'm less likely to have an accident. My son (or daughter, when she's old enough) are far more likely to crash.

No one would appreciate it, just as they don't really appreciate anything run by the government.

Let private insurance companies continue to fleece us. It's good for us really.

It depends, I - being dumb on this matter, don't know whether it would actually be a good change or not if there was some. I wish the government would put a cap on the amount insurance companies can charge for car insurance maximum, but I doubt that will ever happen.

It does seem a bit silly however that in the UK we pay for the car and the petrol to go into it, but then add the MOT, car tax AND huge car insurance. It all seems a little overwhelming.

Presumably you think the government should provide everyone with a hammer and sickle too?

Car insurance has been severly underpriced and loss-making for years. It's due to a large degree to hugely inflated personal injury claims

Car insurance prices have been artificially kept low for a few years because of all these comparison websites making all insurers compete on price. As a consequence of this insurers have made massive losses on car insurance in the past couple of years as the price of materials have gone up and due to fraudulent claims. That's why there has been a big jump in premiums.

Car insurance is not massively profit making, that's just how much it costs and a government scheme wouldn't make it any cheaper. If you want to blame anyone blame those people who overinflate their claims as it costs everyone in higher premiums. It's not the car insurance companies fleecing us it's the fraudsters.

And nothing run by the government has a tendency to run very smoothly at all!

I very much doubt that a Government run scheme would be any cheaper and in all likelyhood would probably be more expensive.

Car insurance is all about risk, and the premiums reflect this. So a teenage boy with a Subaru pays a load more than a 40 year old woman in a people carrier. the cost is born by those who most likely to incur a claim. If the government were to get involved costs for those who least risk would very likely rise. I'm not sure why OP thinks that government action with its associated inefficiencies would lead to cheaper premiums for anyone.

I think car insurance is government run in Germany. I may be very very wrong though and will happily stand corrected.

Id just settle for normal insurance companies knowing what the fuck they're doing