Quote:
Originally Posted by sid
I guess I didn't realize how expensive insurance is in the Tampa Bay area compared to other parts of the country. I'm a little under $900 a year and that is much lower than most people I know in this area. Maybe that is why so many around here drive without insurance, which is illegal but often done.
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Yes, a subset of this discussion is: how much do you pay for state mandated auto liability insurance and what percentage of your total transportation expenses is that?
Even if you have no tickets and no accidents (for the past 40 months), and if you are not in an age grouping where your supposed risk is greater, you still will be paying anywhere from $250-500 per year, per vehicle, just to maintain that mandated insurance requirement.
State mandates (which are virtually universal) subsidize those who drive carelessly and/or have no insurance. And it is a significant, large part of your annual expenditure for transportation.
It's easy to whine and b!!ch about "big oil" - namely expenditures for fuel. But nobody ever points a finger at "big insurance" (read: state motor vehicle laws that demand liability insurance) or those government dictates which indirectly benefit "big insurance" by requiring the purchase of it.
And, please, let's not pretend that insurance companies aren't making any profit on government mandated, auto liability policies.
Not to mention that most states get to issue supposedly prettier looking license plates every few years and recall the old ones, at a greatly increased cost to the licensee.