Liberal Lunacy in Detroit
I'm going to make a rare anti-liberal rant tonight. I came across this article about auto insurance rates in the city of Detroit. This is probably just a prospective mayoral candidate pandering to the public, but it is outright stupid. Let me count the ways:
1) "...car insurance rates based on a ZIP code rather than a person's driving habit is unfair" - in other words, all safe drivers should have low insurance rates regardless of the fact that some stranger is much more likely to steal their $20k car in Detroit than in Ann Arbor?
Insurance companies know what they are doing. If a driver's zip code was in no way correlated to the cost of insuring all cars owned and operated by that individual, then some company would be making a fortune in Detroit by slashing auto insurance prices. The insurance industry is highly competitive in markets like individual auto insurance.
The same comment applies to credit score. The insurance business is all about risk selection. Insurance companies are looking for ways to find the best risks, and they will offer those groups much lower rates. It's basic economics.
2) "The city of Detroit was twice as high as the second highest city in America, and there’s no reason anyone can give me as to why" - I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why, and I also think Hendrix may have exaggerated. Just a little.
While I agree that this seems strange, it would have been nice for the Free Press to cite auto theft and vandalism rates in Detroit vs. the rest of the country as well as traffic accident rates. Furthermore, the stats provided in the article comparing insurance rates between Detroit and the surrounding suburbs apparently debunks this BS statement anyway.
3) “When people literally pack up and leave this city, one of the two or three reasons they always give is their car insurance.”
So the reasons are 1) car insurance rates, 2) incompetent school district management, and 3) higher probability of being murdered. They all seem like equivalent reasons to leave the city to me.
Maybe it's absurd that auto insurance rates are nearly equivalent to the cost of buying a house within the city of Detroit, but it's absurd to point fingers at the auto insurance companies. You might want to take a closer look at state and city insurance regulations. Insurance business are often most efficient and effective when government stays out of their business. Legislation forcing insurance companies to insure erratic and unsafe drivers at affordable rates is fine, but when everyone else is paying dearly to subsidize those poor drivers, you run into situations like the one that Hendrix is whining about. He should take a look in the mirror if he is looking for someone to blame. Government regulation should be limited to prevent insurance exclusion of events that of great interest to the state/federal government (i.e., like requiring maternity coverage in medical insurance plans).
If you were to sue successfully, the auto insurance companies would simply pack up and leave the city/state, leaving people with fewer options and higher prices. No company will write business where the possibility of making a profit is 0%.
1) "...car insurance rates based on a ZIP code rather than a person's driving habit is unfair" - in other words, all safe drivers should have low insurance rates regardless of the fact that some stranger is much more likely to steal their $20k car in Detroit than in Ann Arbor?
Insurance companies know what they are doing. If a driver's zip code was in no way correlated to the cost of insuring all cars owned and operated by that individual, then some company would be making a fortune in Detroit by slashing auto insurance prices. The insurance industry is highly competitive in markets like individual auto insurance.
The same comment applies to credit score. The insurance business is all about risk selection. Insurance companies are looking for ways to find the best risks, and they will offer those groups much lower rates. It's basic economics.
2) "The city of Detroit was twice as high as the second highest city in America, and there’s no reason anyone can give me as to why" - I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why, and I also think Hendrix may have exaggerated. Just a little.
While I agree that this seems strange, it would have been nice for the Free Press to cite auto theft and vandalism rates in Detroit vs. the rest of the country as well as traffic accident rates. Furthermore, the stats provided in the article comparing insurance rates between Detroit and the surrounding suburbs apparently debunks this BS statement anyway.
3) “When people literally pack up and leave this city, one of the two or three reasons they always give is their car insurance.”
So the reasons are 1) car insurance rates, 2) incompetent school district management, and 3) higher probability of being murdered. They all seem like equivalent reasons to leave the city to me.
Maybe it's absurd that auto insurance rates are nearly equivalent to the cost of buying a house within the city of Detroit, but it's absurd to point fingers at the auto insurance companies. You might want to take a closer look at state and city insurance regulations. Insurance business are often most efficient and effective when government stays out of their business. Legislation forcing insurance companies to insure erratic and unsafe drivers at affordable rates is fine, but when everyone else is paying dearly to subsidize those poor drivers, you run into situations like the one that Hendrix is whining about. He should take a look in the mirror if he is looking for someone to blame. Government regulation should be limited to prevent insurance exclusion of events that of great interest to the state/federal government (i.e., like requiring maternity coverage in medical insurance plans).
If you were to sue successfully, the auto insurance companies would simply pack up and leave the city/state, leaving people with fewer options and higher prices. No company will write business where the possibility of making a profit is 0%.
posted by GaryGinew at 7:25 PM
2 Comments:
I like point #3. The reason I left Detroit was a combination of high auto insurance and no available jobs. . . kind of like saying the deceased died of a combination of cancer and being hit by a bus. :)
Hope you had a good NYE Gary! I'll talk to you soon!
I think the real reason why people pack up and leave the city of detroit is because they realized they are surrounded by idiots who would vote for Kwame Kilpatrick as mayor. That would be enough to do it for me. Granted, I'm surrounded by people who would vote for Blagojavich (or however it's spelled) as governor, but i'm sure that's only due to some kind of hair hypnotizing voodoo or something (have you SEEN the guy's hair?).
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