Drive like you have NO INSURANCE!

Having recently returned from 3 years in Costa Rica, one gains a completely different appreciation for driving and valuables, specifically as it relates to insurance. Just 3 minutes reading this will save you much grief and aggravation. You will also become a better influencer!

FIRST, LET’S BE CLEAR ON THE GOAL OF AN INSURANCE COMPANY?

Very simple. Like every other business, they MUST make money for their shareholders. This cannot be achieved if they pay out claims immediately and without question? So ignore all the diatribe in those commercials. They will pay you as slowly as they can, sometimes to their own detriment, but to the benefit of their current management team.

So how can you win?

Recognize what insurance companies are truly there for and hopefully will pay for… the big…… completely unavoidable….. catastrophe.

A vast majority of the balance of incidents can be avoided, for you to win big by eliminating this misconception.

In Costa Rica, one pays what is called Marchamo at the start of the year. It is a government fee, paid by everyone by January 1st of each year, for your car license and your 3rd party liability coverage. It is then up to the drivers to get their own collision coverage privately, for any damage to their vehicle.

The problem is that most of the locals (affectionately calling themselves “TICOS”), cannot afford this and run with old cars, many dents, so you are on your own.

What do you do?

DRIVE AS IF YOU HAVE NO INSURANCE

Stop driving aggressively, stop speeding and begin driving to the road conditions (like when there is a torrential downpour OR white-out conditions, pull off the road). Do so and you’ll get there……. alive and hopefully without any dents or scrapes.

In Costa Rica, should someone dent your car in a parking lot and NOT stick around, it only costs a couple of hundred dollars to repair and color match as good if not better than we can get here. Why? Because there is no infrastructure that has to look at your car and nobody reaching out to get their cut from the big fat insurance company.

If we in North America did this, not expecting the insurance companies to pay for our bad driving and stupidity, the rates for insurance and accidents would drop dramatically.

Would you let your 16-year-old drive this road if you did not have insurance?

Adherence to the speed limits in