why do you have to have car insurance?

Question

plz just straight answers

Answer 1

To pay for your damages/injuries as well as pay for the other driver's damages if you were at fault and vice versa.

Answer 2

You have to have car insurance because it is the law (1988 Road Traffic Act 148) - unless you have £500,000 to put on deposit!

The reason: if you are driving a vehicle and you injure someone or damage their property then you are liable for the losses they incur. If you didn't have insurance then a) you could be made bankrupt and b) the injured party would be unable to obtain satisfactory compensation. The compulsory insurance means that a) you only suffer a small loss through your actions (increase in premium) and b) the injured party receives adequate compensation.

So: there IS a good reason for having compulsory insurance on motor vehicles.

Answer 3

If you kill someone in an accident you may be sued for thousands if not millions of pounds and most people would not have that sort of money so even if the person who has lost say a husband or father i.e the bread winner won their case they would still not be able to get the money so an insurance is essential.
This is why you only have to have third party insurance

Answer 4

In UK when compulsory insurance was first introduced there was a loophole. If you deposited £250000 with the court you could drive with that as a bond instead of insurance. That was a long time ago and the figure will be much more now. However I think some fleet operators still do this.

Answer 5

1. It is the law
2. If you have an accident which is your fault the chances of you being able to foot a bill for damages and possible legal costs would be nil.
3. it is because of the above a socially responsible action.

There is a way of avoiding insurance premiums but the cost of a deposit would almost certainly exceed your income for a lifetime

Answer 6

For your own benefit as you already know so that you don't have to fork out thousands in the event of an accident, but also to deter people from panicing if they hit someone. If insurance wasn't compulsory most people would quite honestly drive off and leave the owners of the car they damaged to pay themselves!

Answer 7

there are two reasons...

if you have a loan out against a vehicle, the lending company requires that you maintain full coverage so if there is an accident, they will be reimbused for the loan by the insurance company.

the state also mandates that you maintain PLPD insurance (minimum coverage) so if you go and run your car into somebody they will be coverered by your insurance company. it is a matter of public safety... somebody has to pay if you screw up while driving, and we can't always rely on the cash you got sitting in your checking account

Answer 8

All of the above answers are basicly correct....but prior to the mid 1970's car insurance was optional. The small insurance lobbies got together and persuaded state legislator to mandate insurance thereby increasing the size of their industry and profits..

Answer 9

To protect people like pedestrians, cyclists etc, so that if they get badly hurt by a car, and the car driver has no money to cover their costs, the insurance company will pay out. That's why the minimum cover you can get is 'third party', ie. to cover the other person's costs.

Answer 10

safety of others...insurance its a big business who in reality screw us up with the prices yet it is necessary for the safety of the other driver which it can be you if someone hurts you. Just picture it someone crashes into you and they got no money to pay you and you got no money to fix it then what? that's why the insurance is a contract where they assure you that your car will be protect if another person hits you.

Answer 11

you may think you don't need it if your car isn't top of the range, but you need this as it is reashed into quired by law, if oyu are found at fault in an accident, (crashed into BMW) then you wouldn't want to pay for this out of your own pocket, and what if it was impossible to do so anyway? Hence the requirement to pay insurance! ;D