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Is the world becoming uninsurable?

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Re: Is the world becoming uninsurable?

#841

Post by CatWChainsaw »

ToucanLoucan wrote: post #586
giorgioz wrote: post #541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know, is sad :( Tough choices must be made. Like many of our ancestors, we will have to migrate to better places and/or adapt. We'll do all we can to make it work. As personal advice, I will be buying my second home (when I'll be able to afford it) somewhere in a different country/region with different climate (and political) connotations. Avoid having all the eggs in the same basket. I think we should all have 2nd…

I have a very visceral response to people who say things like "tough choices must be made" when it's notable that they will not be making those tough choices, nor will have those tough choices impact them, and will instead be apparently playing musical homes for the best personal outcome. Like I'm glad your personal wealth is going to let you skate out of the worst effects of climate change (so you think/for now). Th…

"Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I'm willing to make!"

- Originally Lord Farquaad, emulated by every modern billionaire

Re: Is the world becoming uninsurable?

#842

Post by rs999gti »

0u89e wrote: post #764
bdauvergne wrote: post #742

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the recent events in California I have seen many photos of burnt houses with unburnt trees around. I think those houses were especially flammable more than some vegetation around it seems. After the fire nothing remained but the chimneys. I have never seen any house burn like that in Europe. I live along the Mediterranean sea in France, many wood fires every summer, with wind above 100km/h; never seen so many ho…

I have looked on some videos of how those good looking US houses have plastic drainage, plastic material roof cladding and plastic panels inside and outside. And the first thing that I was thinking - those burn in an event of house fire. But I see more ond more building materials that were used in US now offered and being standard in building here in Europe, so most probably some of the newer houses in an event of fi…

> I'm just wondering if the commenter that mentioned "black swan event"(a very popular theme in Russia and unrelated to wildfires)

What does this mean, "popular theme in Russia"

Re: Is the world becoming uninsurable?

#843

Post by nickff »

distortionfield wrote: post #233
novok wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Health insurance's issue is probably how it induces pure waste everywhere as everyone has to play this dance of ever escalating paperwork which consumes a lot of labor. It's not profit, it's waste. Same with the ever increasing amount of admin. Why is that admin increasing? I estimate insurance or requirements created by insurance is part of the cause. There is also a lot of other smells of a lack of a competitive ma…

This is spot on. It’s not that I think health insurance companies are making insane profit margins. It’s that their very existence in the system is a pure negative and in fact a moral blight. Inflicting profit into a system that is entirely dedicated to human health is by definition a conflict of interest for basically everyone involved, even if it operated at a hypothetical 100% efficiency.

I don’t think health insurance is actually insurance, but I have seen little evidence that it has “insane profit margins”. From what I’ve read, ‘health insurance’ has middling profit margins relative to other insurance specialties; where are you getting that view/data?

Re: Is the world becoming uninsurable?

#844

Post by fuzzfactor »

throw310822 wrote: post #369
jandrewrogers wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans used to build cities with brick and masonry. They were repeatedly destroyed by strong earthquakes, as would happen to your city if subject to similarly severe earthquakes. Americans paid for that lesson in blood. European houses are not designed to withstand American disasters. A brick house that can survive a M8.5 earthquake, which is the safety standard where I live, will be almost purely steel structural…

The entire south and south-east of Europe has a similar seismic risk to most of California, and wooden houses are nowhere to be seen.

In LA a lot of non-mansions were destroyed but plenty of them were modest to reduce overall cost initially because the area has always been expensive to build or live in, even for the original homes to be put up.

Then you have to consider how quickly development took place by comparison, and the collective degree of certainty among the original buyers on whether or not they would be able to afford to stay very long anyway.

So many come there just to give California a try since it's supposed to be the golden state, who are depending completely on the occurrence of good fortune within a limited amount of time before they would expect to return to states with less-expensive hometowns in mostly less fire-prone environments.

This would influence what kind of home they would expect to be suitable for their needs to begin with, and how long it might need to endure.

Re: Is the world becoming uninsurable?

#845

Post by rs999gti »

purplezooey wrote: post #90

It’s hard to view insurance as a viable business when overpaying executives has become the norm. Take State Farm, for instance: its CEO was awarded $50 million in compensation over just two years — 2022 and 2023. The industry is rife with waste and high barriers to entry.

> Take State Farm, for instance: its CEO was awarded $50 million in compensation over just two years — 2022 and 2023.

Honestly, no one would care about CEO pay if the insurance companies would just pay out and make customers whole. Instead, there are mechanisms and processes in place to keep premiums coming in and to reduce or refuse claim payouts.

Re: Is the world becoming uninsurable?

#846

Post by 404mm »

surajrmal wrote: post #726
404mm wrote: post #680

I live in North Texas, and I see a similar pattern in home and car insurance as well. Our main local threat is hail. Well, and the tornadoes, but while very destructive, tornadoes create fairly geographically limited damage. Hail can cover whole cities at a time. Car insurance became quite expensive. My premium is about $2,200 / 6mo (no accidents, no speeding, no claims in about 10 years) for two cars and two drivers…

Do you own higher end vehicles or possibly an EV? Or you're seeing those sorts of rates with something like a Honda Accord?

1yo and 3yo “technically” luxury brands. But the car values combined is under $100k

Re: Is the world becoming uninsurable?

#847

Post by scottLobster »

rondini wrote: post #682
Sabinus wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the market is allowed to price insurance correctly then we can motivate building designs to be more disaster resist. If the McMansion can't get insurance but disaster resistant, modest homes do, then people will adapt.

Let's just consider Los Angeles for a second. For decades working class immigrants were pushed to the foothills in Altadena by redlining policies which placed them at risk for wildfires. Today their risk is exponentially greater due to the effects of unchecked climate change, and many cannot afford insurance even now. How exactly do you expect these people to adapt? Many live in multigenerational households and could…

One of my daughters was born with moderate to severe autism. There's no obvious cause. I'm told that from what we know it's at least 10 different factors that go into it, one of which is environmental pollution. So maybe corporations are partially at fault.

If I could cure it (yes, I'm using that term. It's a debilitating condition and she'd be better off without it) by selling my house and moving hundreds of miles away from family I'd do that in a heartbeat without complaint. All we can do is make the best of things.

Re: Is the world becoming uninsurable?

#848

Post by s1artibartfast »

smileysteve wrote: post #681
sandworm101 wrote: post #570

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wildfires are not the problem. They happen all the time without causing billion-dollar insurance claims. Insurance is always assets x risk. The issue is expensive flamable housing (assets) in a wildfire area (risk). We ask for trouble when we create million-dollar wooden houses surrounded by manicured gardens in desert enviroments. And build on a slope facing pervailing winds. The answer is concrete/brick houses with…

A forward looking (part of a) solution for Malibu would be the county acquiring and maintaining beach paths every few houses. Prescribed 10' wide fire breaks. This solves the fire problem AND the limited access to a public resource that is common in Malibu. Ideally a permeable surface without any growth, cleared at least 2x a year.

I would prefer no bailouts.

If insurance wants firebreaks for insurance, that is their choice.

If the city wants buy RE for access, that is between tax payers and the land owners. Cash talks

Re: Is the world becoming uninsurable?

#849

Post by rs999gti »

lasermike026 wrote: post #602

Insurance needs to be not-for-profit or a government enterprise. Physical projects and infrastructure should not be started until risk is assessed. Speculators and go-go finance has ought to be constrained. As for myself, I am choosing alternative ways to plan, finance, build, and manage infrastructure project. The current systems is a non-starter for most people under 50.

> Insurance needs to be not-for-profit or a government enterprise.

There are many examples of this in the insurer of last resort, which are non-profit or government insurance when the private insurance can no longer cover.

Insurers of last resort have the same issues with denying claims and not paying out like the private insurers. If you read the OP article, the only people asking for not-for-profit or government insurance are basically asking for infinite money, which is both a non-starter and impossible.

What really should be done is private insurers raising premiums to match risk. This may mean some consumers will be priced out of insurance policies.

Re: Is the world becoming uninsurable?

#850

Post by fuzzfactor »

whatever1 wrote: post #58

No it’s just that the insurance companies want mandated insurance pools for which they just receive checks. In health insurance they don’t cover the elderly, and until Obama they did not cover people with prior conditions. For home insurance they don’t cover flood get your are mandated to carry one if you have a mortgage. In life insurance they do not cover you if you have a disease. It’s more like a lottery rather t…

Some people have always been uninsurable.

When you become uninsurable yourself, all you're doing is crossing an imaginary line that has always been there, and kept in imaginary condition precisely to insure that your mental health is stable enough to keep on paying more than anything else :\

You're not supposed to notice this.

Whether or not you crossed that line due to any fault of your own, or from the line moving past you with a whimper or a whoosh, you're also not supposed to be able to tell the difference until it's too late.

Working with the big ships that are often covered by some of the most well-established insurers in the world, it turns out that when you really need them to pay a claim, the stronger your insurance company, the more likely their lawyers will outmaneuver yours, and the claim will not be paid.

Otherwise it could be paying the claim but denying further coverage which the limited number of alternative underwriters can also deny. That's a hell of a negotiating position.

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