MARK CAREY

So-called 'no-fault' auto insurance states that you must submit claims to your own insurance company, regardless of whose fault the accident was. Now that doesn't mean that no one is deemed "at fault" for the accident in question. When you submit a claim to your insurance company, it is up to them to decide whether the accident was your fault or the fault of the other driver. And guess what? If the accident is deemed to be your fault, they increase your premuims, thus making more money from you next year. Therein lies the problem. Insurance companies have a profit motivation to determine that their own customers are at fault for accidents, perhaps even some times when they are not at fault. Insurance premuims are balanced against the risk that a particular driver will submit future claims. In the case that the insurance company blames a customer for an accident that was not their fault, the premuims increase, but the risk doesn't! Profit-wise that's a great position for the insurance company to be in. There is clearly something wrong with a system that incents insurance companies to assess fault on their own customers. (For those wondering, the answer is 'yes', I have recently been deemed 'at fault' for an accident that was not my fault)