A Discussion about Normalcy Bias in Times of Crisis

[Esq.]

This relates somewhat to the Ahmaud Arbery case.

A few baseline facts:

1. The FBI reports that only 17% of burglaries are solved. Even then, that is no guarantee of compensation for victims.

2. Further, FBI data states that the average cost of a burglary is over $2,000- to be honest, I'm not sure if that includes both the stolen items AND damage to the dwelling.

3. The AVERAGE AMERICAN (YES, I know, every one of you owns a gold plated crapper) cannot afford an unexpected expense of $400. (This was BEFORE Covid 19 completely cratered our economy-convince me things are now better somehow... )

4. Most homeowners insurance policies have a minimum deductible of $1,000.

5. In twenty years of being a land lord on over a dozen properties, I can count on one hand the number of tenants with rental insurance. They dont have the money, if they did they would buy a place...

So to me, the "Just call the police" answer is completely Tone Deaf. It's like Joe Biden telling people to play the record player. Folks, you ARE ON YOUR OWN. This isn't 1985 anymore, the things that worked in THAT SOCIETY, WITH THOSE RULES -NO LONGER WORKS . It completely ignores street level reality for most Americans today.

[Averageman]

City employees who travel through out your city should know what to look for when it comes to burglaries. You see someone trolling a neighborhood, call it in.

[mark5pt56]

You don't how many times the neighbor would say post fact that "yeah, I saw that odd van in the driveway, thought their friends were helping them move" I won't get into the legalities of the case above, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know the perp was a piece of uknowwhat

[ABNAK]

This relates somewhat to the Ahmaud Arbery case.

A few baseline facts:

1. The FBI reports that only 17% of burglaries are solved. Even then, that is no guarantee of compensation for victims.

2. Further, FBI data states that the average cost of a burglary is over $2,000- to be honest, I'm not sure if that includes both the stolen items AND damage to the dwelling.

3. The AVERAGE AMERICAN (YES, I know, every one of you owns a gold plated crapper) cannot afford an unexpected expense of $400. (This was BEFORE Covid 19 completely cratered our economy-convince me things are now better somehow... )

4. Most homeowners insurance policies have a minimum deductible of $1,000.

5. In twenty years of being a land lord on over a dozen properties, I can count on one hand the number of tenants with rental insurance. They dont have the money, if they did they would buy a place...

So to me, the "Just call the police" answer is completely Tone Deaf. It's like Joe Biden telling people to play the record player. Folks, you ARE ON YOUR OWN. This isn't 1985 anymore, the things that worked in THAT SOCIETY, WITH THOSE RULES -NO LONGER WORKS . It completely ignores street level reality for most Americans today.

The victim should be given the option of breaking the fingers of said thief one by one with a ball peen hammer. Yeah, cruel and unusual…….whatever. (same goes for CC fraud scumbags)

[soulezoo]

Forget that 17% figure, even before the China Flu thing, many municipalities would not even respond to a burglary call. It's just "file an online report". I know a couple of cops in of two of these cities and they have told me that none of those reports are ever investigated. The best you can hope for is perps are caught doing something and they have merchandise on them that can be tied to your report.

So yeah, you're on your own.

[AKDoug]

5. In twenty years of being a land lord on over a dozen properties, I can count on one hand the number of tenants with rental insurance. They dont have the money, if they did they would buy a place...

Renters insurance is an average of $187 A YEAR... People are not cheap, they are simply stupid.

[Esq.]

Renters insurance is an average of $187 A YEAR... People are not cheap, they are simply stupid.

That is a distinct possibility. Nevertheless, the police are going to be exactly ZERO help when it comes to burglaries. Unless people are perfectly fine with losing thousands of dollars- because insurance, even when you have it is pretty much useless, the only prevention for it is strong, personal action in confronting thieves.

[HardToHandle]

Insurance... even property insurance, is designed to make money for the company. It is not intended to pay out.

I worked for a good-sized insurer that owned a majority of a specific property market and was competitive in numerous others. After awhile there, it turned my stomach to see how large the suborgation department was - the lawyers hired to argue against paying anything. Even when then case called for a big payout, the investigators and lawyers were deployed to find any mitigation or loophole to dramatically reduce the total cost. As an insurance company, we had already sunk cost on the balance sheet on the personnel side to argue and slow down any payout, so the insured was baring all the costs as we drug out settling. The longer the company goes, the more likely the insured is to take a smaller settlement.

A decade later, my small businessman father finally called in his business interruption policy he had been paying for just shy of 40 years. What a disaster - seven months of stalling, duplicative Record requests, minimization tactics and, likely, trying to roll the claim into a new calendar year. My Dad’s office recovery was twice as long in part because of the State Farm’s apparent desire to slow down the process. My estimate was the base premiums were about 3x what he finally received in payout without any inflation adjustment.

Apartment dwellers might not be the #1 audience for insurance company to stiff, as apartment insurance is almost a lost leader, but don’t expect insurance to do anyone a favor.