Crash Bookies

It seems that - besides inane commercials featuring smiling smart-asses in clerk aprons, uncouth lounge-lizard types cavorting with ostriches, people doing strange things on waterfront dock that looks out at the Statue of Liberty, and/or: 60-second spots with a well-respected actor telling accident-prone people not to worry one little about being horrid drivers - the insurance industry has other ways of getting a potential customer's attention:

For lack of a better term let's call them the: "Hey we're here to help (you buy insurance through US)." approach. Here's a note that our publisher just passed along to me for comment on:

"With ongoing vehicle shortages and high demand, the automotive industry is facing several challenges, making it difficult for consumers to buy a car. Which car brands are the least expensive to insure? Fiat, Buick and Subaru have the cheapest cars on the market to insure, according to Insurify’s new report.  Interested in reviewing the report’s entire findings, including insurance costs, major developments, and rate projections for 2022? Happy to set up an interview or email Q&A. Thanks, Meghann"

And, of course, I'll comment

Now Meghann (with two n's mind you) works for an outfit over in Chandler, Arizona called (and very forthrightly so if I do say so myself) Pitch Public Relations (LLC). She wants you and me (and everyone else) to check out and consult with a site (strangely enough a PPR client) that sells all sorts and brands of automobile insurance using "reports" (aka: stories, tales, parabels, and various other amusements) to get that done.

It even has a clever name: "Insurify". I'm sure that they have the very best intentions in mind with this (and other) revelations and little known facts about automobile insurance, but I have to wonder how their facts and figures have much influence on people getting concerned over the make/model car that they are interested in, based on how much their insurance is going to be. The actuarial stuff is not as interesting as a handful or other concerns such as make, model, price, styling, accessories, fuel milage, "no down, no payments until ___(what seems like long time from now)____"-deals, driving range for electric cars, factory "cash back" incentives, ridiculously high "We Want To Buy YOUR Car" trade-in come-ons, and leasing plans that seem way too good to be ... you know.

But It's There, Somewhere... The Price Of Insurance

This particular study? I couldn't find it on the Insurify site, but there was one that was (helpfully) all queued up to give buyers the names of the 10 best places to buy automobile insurance and wonder of wonders ... Insurify was named number one.

Amazing.

So what about car insurance? Well, first, don't leave home without it. And, second, it will be hard to buy any coverage with a straight face ... The thing is, we all (at least I hope "we all" do) buy all forms of insurance with some sort of feeling that we really don't want to have to use it.

I had a friend who used to call insurance agents: "Crash Bookies".

The term, "necessary evil" comes to mind here, maybe that's why all these insurance providers use such corny advertising strategies, I don't know.

The Ultimate Driving Safety Device? 

Just to put a finer point on it, automotive writer Brock Yates once suggested that the ultimate driving safety device would be a 6 inch, razor-sharp, spear tip projecting from the center of every car's steering wheel.. He was kidding, of course.

By the same token, automobile insurance doesn't make anyone a better driver. A more responsible driver, sure. And accidents do happen, as we know... Make sure you're covered.

Best advice: buy from people who will be there if and when. Hint: reputation trumps advertising.

Final Note

And then there's a sort of a talking (with a slight Cockney accent) lizard/salamander that drives a cute little brit sports car and whose name (sort of) sounds like the company acronym/name, as well as the TV ad with two old west  gunfighters trying to schedule a time for a showdown... "Nope, Thursday at 10 I'm being thrown through the front window in Hooligan's Bar" and so on. Seems that no one wants to just say "If you screw up we'll sure think about covering you for it (but not without a bit of drama) thankyouverymuch."