[missedthecue]

And in most cases where they are profitable, it's a result of the float that they can invest in the time frame between when they collect premiums and pay out claims. Some insurance companies actually collect less than they pay out, and make up the difference on the interest from float.

I think it's actually incredible and very unappreciated that society can insure against so much risk for the price of nothing more than the time value of money.

Plus, the insurance company takes the risk of interest rate movement. If you were to self insure, you'd be exposed to that risk. In the last year as interest rates have climbed, this effect has been very visible. Allstate for random example is in the red by several billion over the last few quarters because bond prices have imploded. But their customers are insulated from that risk.

[lotsofpulp]

Exactly. I also find it funny about tech workers on a tech forum who work for businesses that earn 20%+ profit margins even at $100M+ revenue, something almost all other business other than pharma and oil can only dream of, falsely pointing fingers at price gouging.

[giantrobot]

I didn't accuse insurance companies of price gauging. I take issue with the difficulty of getting money back out of an insurer. Some types of insurance make it incredibly difficult to get them to actually pay claims. In fact many insurance companies deny claims by default banking on the fast many people will give up on the claim.

Insurance is not inherently evil or bad but insurance companies tend to be very scummy in their actual behavior towards their customers.