Calling the home insurance market less mental to someone in Tampa Bay is laughable. The only reason I'll even be considered by insurance companies other than the public-run Citizens is because I'm not in a flood zone [0]. Most every other company won't cover Florida, because why include high-risk areas if you have a choice? Just exclude them and be done with it, right?

And that's the whole point behind my prior comment. As long as insurers can directly exclude individuals -- or indirectly exclude through price discrimination -- this is a completely sane way for them to behave. But it's not the only way to build the system, and this is definitely one of those times to ask, "Is this the best this society can do? Is this what our society actually wants?"

And I also have a feeling auto insurance is more sane in the UK due to the public healthcare being offloaded. In the US they severely cap medical payouts. We're talking like tens of thousands, which is laughably small here for anything serious. That will cover one ER visit. Instead, they give a big number for liability coverage of injury caused to others. So if the incident wasn't your fault, you're relying on that other person's liability coverage to make you whole, not your own insurance. Unless of course they were uninsured and you have uninsured motorist coverage. And if you're found at fault, then better hope you have some other way to cover that gap.

[0] But I still go with Citizens as long as they'll keep me. Because I'd rather pay directly into the public system than pay some for-profit company that's just going to beg for public bailouts when something big happens anyway.

Yeah, I worked in the industry for a while based in Europe, so that's the context of my comment. I deliberately avoided health insurance, both because I don't know a huge amount about it, and because it's so mental in the US.

I do agree with you in terms of the societal benefit piece, but was just trying to give some insight with respect to how the industry works now (without taking a position on how it should work).

My personal belief is that we should only allow individual level features to be considered, because otherwise you end up in a position where people living in richer areas both have more money and pay less for insurance (which is rational from an insurer perspective).

That being said, insurance doesn't really make any money, and is probably something that would be better provided by the state (especially for things like auto, which people are forced by the state to have).

> Yeah, I worked in the industry for a while based in Europe, so that's the context of my comment.

Just want to let you know that I appreciate the info. Cheers!