Just Say No to Insurance

Insurance was originally designed to save us from ruin in the event of an unpredictable misfortune. Shipping companies insured against their ship sinking in a violent storm and taking their cargo down with it. Drivers insured against being forced to swerve to avoid a drunken lunatic and writing off their vehicle in the ensuing back flip onto the hard shoulder. Everyone insured, if they could, against being hospitalized after illness or injury. This kind of insurance makes sense to me. Many kinds don't. Liability waiver insurance makes a cheap car rental not cheap. If I say no, almost 1000 pounds is blocked on my credit card and I'm faced with the loss of all of it if I so much as scratch the already heavily scratched 'Vauxhall Corsa or similar'. This is nonsense. That I am forced to take out insurance against an unexpected loss I can't possibly meet the cost of is common sense. But why, if I choose to risk an amount that would be painful, but not terminal, can't I be liable for the real cost of repair of whatever damage I cause? I take better care of the car if I know carelessness will cost me personally. In Thailand you see whole families traveling on small motorbikes without helmets. I asked a tour guide why they take the risk and he said "It's their family, they go slowly." He might have added that they pay attention. They don't wear iPods or talk on the phone, safe in the knowledge that someone else will pay if they lose concentration and crash. If they do crash, they have to take responsibility. And there's the rub: the more insured we are, the less responsible we feel for our actions. Say no to damage waiver insurance, say no to PPI, say no to identity theft insurance, say no to no claims bonus insurance and football shirt insurance and bad weather on holiday insurance and all the thousand types of insurance against the inevitable risks of life that won't bankrupt you if they happen. Take responsibility and feel the thrill of exposure.