6 ms·

I am surprised this guy's homeowners insurance hasn't dropped him. A few years ago I had to switch companies or be dropped for having a trampoline -- with a fu

by dzdt 10y ago

I am surprised this guy's homeowners insurance hasn't dropped him. A few years ago I had to switch companies or be dropped for having a trampoline -- with a full net -- in my fenced backyard. Insurance companies hate anything with any risk, especially of injury to outside visitors.

grecy 10y ago
> A few years ago I had to switch companies or be dropped for having a trampoline -- with a full net -- in my fenced backyard Seriously? Wow, as a non-American I find that outrageous. I wonder when they'll threaten to drop people for having coke in their fridge or water in their bathtub. After all, those things kill people every day! They're extremely dangerous.
- ascendantlogic 10y ago
  Insurance isn't about helping people cover expenses, it's about collecting as much premium as possible while paying out as little as possible.
  - lando2319 10y ago
    nowadays commercials of Insurance companies actually tout that they pay the settlements. It would be like me, a Developer, touting that I actually finish apps, I don't just take the money.
  - Ntrails 10y ago
    Taken to it's logical conclusion you can argue that every business is going to try and cut every possible cost and service to maximise profit. Insurance is not about helping people cover expenses though, it is about pooling risk for the benefit of the group. This does mean that if you are a stunt helicopter pilot then other people in a low risk pool may tell you that they don't want you in it anymore. America has a whole bunch of weirdness around insurance law etc. so I can't really speak much as I'm foreign - but there are good reasons that insurers don't cover Skiing on default travel insurance for example - and it isn't to screw the consumer.
    - grecy 10y ago
      > it is about pooling risk for the benefit of the group. AND making obscene profit for the insurance company. I wish we had more things like this that were non-profit. An insurance non-profit could charge the same premiums as a company does today, then whatever "profit" they have left at the end of the year after expenses they just refund back to all customers as a percentage of their premiums. Everyone would pay way less, all the employees still get paid the same, and we'd still have the benefit of pooling the risk.
      - Ntrails 10y ago
        I'd love to see more on the obscene profit side of this. Honestly - I've done some work on pricing, reserving, etc in insurance and spoken to practicing GI actuaries - the margins are just not that large. Are you specifically pointing to US medical insurers (I cannot comment at all on that tbh beyond the fact that the whole system is problematic)?
- sliverstorm 10y ago
  In fairness, it's my understanding trampolines are really honestly fairly hazardous, despite their pedestrian appearance & our fond memories. More than 1 million people went to emergency departments for trampoline-related injuries between 2002 and 2011, with nearly 300,000 of those injuries involving broken bones approximately 900,000 consumer trampolines sold each year Doing some extremely crude correlation- For every ten trampolines sold a year, one person will visit the ER that year, and for every thirty trampolines sold, one person will break a bone. Yeah, I can see why insurance doesn't like them. They aren't saying you can't have one, they just don't want to cover them. http://theweek.com/articles/472062/dangers-owning-home-trampoline-by-numbers http://theweek.com/articles/472062/dangers-owning-home-tramp... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/29/trampoline-injuries-fractures-broken-bones_n_5227768.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/29/trampoline-injuries...
fsloth 10y ago
What? That sounds crazy to a non-US person. Are you saying that if someone came to visit and hurt themselves on the trampoline they would charge your insurance for it?
- jwhitlark 10y ago
  They could sue you, and it would fall through to your insurance.
- matthewmcg 10y ago
  No, an injured guest could sue you and your insurance company would be required under the policy to defend you and pay any bodily injury against you.
- moonbug 10y ago
  I guess you live some place with free-at-the-point-of-use healthcare.
  - vonmoltke 10y ago
    Insurance settlements in personal injury cases go well beyond just medical bills.
- 1123581321 10y ago
  Absolutely. I just opened my home policy online and I have $300,000 coverage for Personal Liability in addition to coverage of home, property, etc. The description for the Personal Liability insurance says: "If a claim is made or a suit is brought against an insured for damages because of bodily injury or property damage caused by an occurrence to which this coverage applies, we will: * Pay up to our limit of liability for the damages for which the insured is legally liable. Damages include prejudgment interest awarded against the insured; and * Provide a defense at our expense by counsel of our choice, even if the suit is groundless, false or fraudulent. We may investigate and settle any claim or suit that we decide is appropriate. Our duty to settle or defend ends when the amount we pay for damages resulting from the occurrence equals our limit of liability." Some people also take out a personal umbrella policy which covers personal liability beyond home or auto. For example, a former employer's daughter and a friend were in an auto accident. The parents of the friend sued my boss for personal injury on her behalf, and my boss had to pay about two million dollars. Her auto policy probably covered $100-500k of that, and the rest was covered by the umbrella policy.
M_Grey 10y ago
Insurance companies want nothing to do with attractive nuisances; they'd much prefer you live in a padded cell, drawing a paycheck and paying your bills. In short, they are scum.
pilom 10y ago
A successful entrepreneur who had sold businesses could theoretically just self insure. If you have paid off your house, you don't technically need home insurance (though this guy would be silly not to have it).

by dzdt 10y ago

grecy 10y ago

> A few years ago I had to switch companies or be dropped for having a trampoline -- with a full net -- in my fenced backyard Seriously? Wow, as a non-American I find that outrageous. I wonder when they'll threaten to drop people for having coke in their fridge or water in their bathtub. After all, those things kill people every day! They're extremely dangerous.

ascendantlogic 10y ago
Insurance isn't about helping people cover expenses, it's about collecting as much premium as possible while paying out as little as possible.
- lando2319 10y ago
  nowadays commercials of Insurance companies actually tout that they pay the settlements. It would be like me, a Developer, touting that I actually finish apps, I don't just take the money.
- Ntrails 10y ago
  Taken to it's logical conclusion you can argue that every business is going to try and cut every possible cost and service to maximise profit. Insurance is not about helping people cover expenses though, it is about pooling risk for the benefit of the group. This does mean that if you are a stunt helicopter pilot then other people in a low risk pool may tell you that they don't want you in it anymore. America has a whole bunch of weirdness around insurance law etc. so I can't really speak much as I'm foreign - but there are good reasons that insurers don't cover Skiing on default travel insurance for example - and it isn't to screw the consumer.
  - grecy 10y ago
    > it is about pooling risk for the benefit of the group. AND making obscene profit for the insurance company. I wish we had more things like this that were non-profit. An insurance non-profit could charge the same premiums as a company does today, then whatever "profit" they have left at the end of the year after expenses they just refund back to all customers as a percentage of their premiums. Everyone would pay way less, all the employees still get paid the same, and we'd still have the benefit of pooling the risk.
    - Ntrails 10y ago
      I'd love to see more on the obscene profit side of this. Honestly - I've done some work on pricing, reserving, etc in insurance and spoken to practicing GI actuaries - the margins are just not that large. Are you specifically pointing to US medical insurers (I cannot comment at all on that tbh beyond the fact that the whole system is problematic)?
sliverstorm 10y ago
In fairness, it's my understanding trampolines are really honestly fairly hazardous, despite their pedestrian appearance & our fond memories. More than 1 million people went to emergency departments for trampoline-related injuries between 2002 and 2011, with nearly 300,000 of those injuries involving broken bones approximately 900,000 consumer trampolines sold each year Doing some extremely crude correlation- For every ten trampolines sold a year, one person will visit the ER that year, and for every thirty trampolines sold, one person will break a bone. Yeah, I can see why insurance doesn't like them. They aren't saying you can't have one, they just don't want to cover them. http://theweek.com/articles/472062/dangers-owning-home-trampoline-by-numbers http://theweek.com/articles/472062/dangers-owning-home-tramp... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/29/trampoline-injuries-fractures-broken-bones_n_5227768.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/29/trampoline-injuries...

fsloth 10y ago

What? That sounds crazy to a non-US person. Are you saying that if someone came to visit and hurt themselves on the trampoline they would charge your insurance for it?

jwhitlark 10y ago
They could sue you, and it would fall through to your insurance.
matthewmcg 10y ago
No, an injured guest could sue you and your insurance company would be required under the policy to defend you and pay any bodily injury against you.
moonbug 10y ago
I guess you live some place with free-at-the-point-of-use healthcare.
- vonmoltke 10y ago
  Insurance settlements in personal injury cases go well beyond just medical bills.
1123581321 10y ago
Absolutely. I just opened my home policy online and I have $300,000 coverage for Personal Liability in addition to coverage of home, property, etc. The description for the Personal Liability insurance says: "If a claim is made or a suit is brought against an insured for damages because of bodily injury or property damage caused by an occurrence to which this coverage applies, we will: * Pay up to our limit of liability for the damages for which the insured is legally liable. Damages include prejudgment interest awarded against the insured; and * Provide a defense at our expense by counsel of our choice, even if the suit is groundless, false or fraudulent. We may investigate and settle any claim or suit that we decide is appropriate. Our duty to settle or defend ends when the amount we pay for damages resulting from the occurrence equals our limit of liability." Some people also take out a personal umbrella policy which covers personal liability beyond home or auto. For example, a former employer's daughter and a friend were in an auto accident. The parents of the friend sued my boss for personal injury on her behalf, and my boss had to pay about two million dollars. Her auto policy probably covered $100-500k of that, and the rest was covered by the umbrella policy.

M_Grey 10y ago

Insurance companies want nothing to do with attractive nuisances; they'd much prefer you live in a padded cell, drawing a paycheck and paying your bills. In short, they are scum.

pilom 10y ago

A successful entrepreneur who had sold businesses could theoretically just self insure. If you have paid off your house, you don't technically need home insurance (though this guy would be silly not to have it).