Insurance
It’s routine. You insure your home, and even as a renter you insure your home’s contents. In most cases it’s required, for instance by one’s lender. The state requires that one have auto insurance. Health insurance is desirable, but not everyone has it. In most cases insurance is sort of in the background of life. When things are going perfectly or even smoothly, just knowing one is covered stays comfortably in the background.
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. I was somewhat surprised that it’s nothing new. Wiki says:
Babylonian, Chinese, and Indian traders practiced methods of transferring or distributing risk in a monetary economy in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, respectively.[19][20] Chinese merchants traversing treacherous river rapids would redistribute their wares across many vessels to limit the loss due to any single vessel's capsizing. The Babylonians developed a system recorded in the famous Code of Hammurabi, c. 1750 BC, and practiced by early Mediterranean sailing merchants. If a merchant received a loan to fund his shipment, he would pay the lender an additional sum in exchange for the lender's guarantee to cancel the loan should the shipment be stolen or lost at sea. Concepts of insurance has been also found in 3rd century BCE Hindu scriptures such as Dharmasastra, Arthashastra and Manusmriti.[21]er
Climate change has brought property insurance awareness to the forefront of life for many. Due to wildfires in California and flooding in Florida, insurance rates have skyrocketed and, even worse, there have been mass cancellations.. Businesses have to make a profit to remain viable, and with insurance there are regulatory agencies which control haw much companies can charge.
I’m so attentive to this situation because of what happened to our condo association (which is required, like most, to carry insurance). We were cancelled as part of a mass withdrawal of coverage by a very large company. After applying to 47 companies country-wide we acquired a less than generous policy, at 6 times the previous cost.
Companies of course have to spread the risk, so this situation will obtain everywhere, even in places that bear little risk.
What has been your experience? Has your policy been affected? Has the price gone up? Is the possibility in your radar? Are you aware of other folks, in other parts of the country, who have been affected?
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