History of insurance

The history of insurance describes the development of the modern business of insurance against risks,

especially regarding cargo, property, death, automobile accidents, and medical treatment.

The industry helps to eliminate risks (as when fire insurance companies demand the implementation of safe practices and the installation of hydrants), spreads risks from the individual to the larger community, and provides an important source of long-term finance for both the public and private sectors. The insurance industry is generally profitable and provides attractive employment opportunities for white collar workers.

Ancient world

In some sense, we can say that insurance dates back to early human society. We know of two types of economies in human societies: natural or non-monetary economies (using barter and trade with no centralized nor standardized set of financial instruments) and monetary economies (with markets, currency, financial instruments and so on). Insurance in the former case entails agreements of mutual aid. If one family's house gets destroyed, the neighbours are committed to help rebuild it. Granaries embodied another early form of insurance to indemnify against famines. These types of insurance have survived to the present day in countries or areas where a modern money economy with its financial instruments is not widespread.

Full list of types of insurance

In the world there are many types of insurance. To your attention is invited to the full list.

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• Alien abduction insurance
• Assumption reinsurance
• Aviation insurance

Auto Insurance Scams

   Getting into a car accident is bad enough, what with the wrecked car, the possible injuries the auto insurance claim. What's worse is that in rare cases that accident was a planned, coordinated effort, and innocent drivers become the pawns in an auto insurance scam.   Fraud, including insurance scams, is the second-most burdensome financial crime in the United States, behind only tax evasion. And it's far more common than you think experts say that more than 20 percent of bodily injury claims and 10 percent of auto damage claims as the result of car accidents are bogus.

 Car insurance scams victimize law-abiding drivers by creating blemished driving records, legal headaches and higher premiums. Insurance companies also end up paying out millions of dollars each year to settle claims that aren't real, but easy to float due to the after-the-fact reporting nature of car accidents. Large criminal rings and individual criminals alike see car insurance companies as too tantalizing a cash source to pass up. And that winds up as an extra $200 to $300 per year on everyone's insurance policies.

 Here are five of the most common auto insurance scams -- and some practical advice on how you can do your best to avoid them.

Hilarious Car Insurance Claims That Are Too Funny To Be True

Did you ever watch Jasper Carrott on TV in the 80`s and 90`s ? He is an English comedian who used to talk about actual statements taken from car insurance claims. They always used to have me in stitches laughing and I would like to share some of them with you along with some new ones.

1. “I was driving along the motorway when the police pulled me over onto the hard shoulder. Unfortunately I was in the middle lane and there was another car in the way..”

2. “Going to work at 7am this morning I drove out of my drive straight into a bus. The bus was 5 minutes early..”

3. “The accident happened because I had one eye on the lorry in front, one eye on the pedestrian and the other on the car behind.”

Extreme case of car insurance fraud

   When Houston high school chemistry teacher Tramesha Lashon Fox grew tired of making the payments on her Chevy Malibu, she offered two failing students passing grades to torch her car for the insurance money. She was fired and served 90 days in jail.

"Vehicle give-ups were a very large trend when the economy tanked," says Quiggle.

It also has become a brazen plan B for street racers who wreck their rides.

"Street racing is mostly illegal, so if you bang up your car in a race, your insurance company is not going to pay," Quiggle says.

"One of the scams in street racing is, you wreck your car in an illegal race but then you claim that it was hit by a hit-and-run driver or you ran into a tree. You can get free repairs or even upgrades that way."

Some street racers set their car on fire or dump it in a lake or river for the insurance money.

"Of course, insurance companies have to look at the damage to see if it's consistent with the way the claimant said it happened," Quiggle says.

5 of the Worst Car Accidents in U.S. History

1. December 11, 1990
 Just after 9AM, on a stretch of I-75 in Tennessee, dense fog blanketed the highway and led to a 70-car pile-up. There had been warning signs posted but conditions deteriorated too quickly for them to help motorists. The wreckage stretched for a half mile and caused 13 fatalities. The car fires added to the chaos and 33 different fire companies responded to the call. Survivors say that it sounded like endless bombs and gunshots going off as one car after another plowed into the mess. Tennessee has since installed an improved fog warning system with fog sensors that can change the read out on highway signs to alert motorists and also close on-ramps to prevent pile-ups. Reflective markers and flashing lights were also installed to help guide cars stuck in fog.

Types of Car Insurance

 How do you know what types you need? Is it required by your state? Are there ways to save money and still have the right amount of coverage? Below we detail 5 types of coverages and provide a few scenarios where you would benefit from having a non-required coverage added to your policy along with some tips to save some money depending on your vehicle and budget.

1. Liability Insurance

Liability insurance covers you in the event you are in a covered car accident and it is determined the accident is a result of your actions. Liability insurance will cover the cost of repairing any property damaged by an accident as well as the medical bills from resulting injuries. Most states have a minimum requirement for the amount of liability insurance coverage that drivers must have. If you can afford it, however, it is usually a good idea to have liability insurance that is above your state's minimum liability coverage requirement, as it will provide extra protection in the event you are found at fault for an accident, as you are responsible for any claims that exceed your coverage's upper limit. You wouldn't want to run the risk of having to pay a large amount of money because your policy limit has been exceeded.

5 biggest myths about auto insurance

No one likes to buy auto insurance. It’s complicated. It’s expensive. And who understands how the premiums are determined? Maybe that’s why there is so much misinformation about insurance coverage and pricing.
The non-profit Insurance Information Institute helped me tackle five common auto insurance myths:

Myth 1:  Red cars cost more to insure 
If you believe the owners of red cars drive more aggressively and get more speeding tickets, this would make sense. But there’s no data to back this up.
“Frankly, it doesn't matter whether the car is red or green or purple," said Loretta Worters, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute.
Insurers are not concerned about color and neither is law enforcement.
“We look at behavior, not appearance,” said Bob Calkins, a spokesman for the Washington State Patrol. “We don’t profile people, and we don’t profile cars.”
Insurance companies do care about the type of vehicle you drive, including the make, model, sticker price, engine size and year. Is it popular with thieves? Is it more costly to repair? Does it have a good safety record?
There does appear to be correlation between vehicle model and the likelihood of a traffic ticket. A recent study by Quality Planning (a San Francisco-based analytics company that works with auto insurers) found that drivers of flashy cars are often more aggressive and therefore a greater risk.
Based on this study, drivers of the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class convertible are four times more likely to be cited for a moving violation than the average driver. Quality Planning’s list of Top Ten “Spirited Vehicles” includes Toyota’s Camry Solara Coupe, Scion’s TC Coupe and the Hummer H2/H3 SUV.
Other factors that go into determining your premium: how many miles you drive each year, when you drive, where you drive and if you’ve had any previous accidents. These days your credit history is also considered. Insurance companies say their data show people with a good credit history are less likely to file a claim.

Auto Insurance. Interesting Statistics and Facts

Car Insurance Ratings