"Dave" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure your aircraft experience carries over to pleasure
boats. My
impression is that there aren't many lawyers out their seeking
to make big
bucks from pleasure boat accidents. (Thank God for small
favors.) But I
suppose if we see a couple of class actions in the area that
could change.
There isn't enough money in smaller boats for lawyers to 'go for'
their manufacturers or their owners. And for larger vessels
there's an excellent international insurance market - very
competitive - and it's easy for them to register in more friendly
locations than USA.
Small boat insurance is very similar to car insurance - lots of
little people with not a lot of money. Only a few who are really
well off. And, unlike cars, very few healthy big corporate
manufacturers to chase for product liability. I just don't see
Roger's aviation scenario developing.
But I do see high risk areas being identified by insurers. Small
vessels and hurricane seasons don't go well together. Small, high
energy vessels can do a lot of damage. People without skills or
experience are more likely to create damage.
As for those who have been criticising the profit motive of
insurers (and suggesting public insurance) earlier in this thread,
most of them did not understand the business model. Insurance is a
cash flow business. You borrow cash up front. You invest that cash
and make most of your profit from those investments. At
statistically predictable rates, you have to pay back these loans.
If you assessed your risks well, you pay back a little less than
you received and your business grows. And vice versa. But you
don't know the answers to that equation until three or four years
after the event.
By all means let public insurance compete with private insurance.
But you need some safeguards to make sure that that cash flow
doesn't disappear into the public spending maw. Because it's going
to have to be re-paid! By whom? The taxpayer.
--
JimB
http://www.jimbaerselman.f2s.com/
Describing some Greek and Spanish cruising areas