Insurance survey asked if I owned guns.

Owen Sparks · Jan 4, 2009

Last year I posted that my health insurance company asked if I owned any firearms and did I keep a loaded gun in the house.

I refused to answer.

Today I took the same online health assment but the firearm related question were gone. Evidently enough other people refused to answer. They were figuring in statistical risk factors like smoking and drinking, weight, diet and family history to determine your overall health. Supposidly you have a higher risk of injury if you own guns. Then again, you have a much higher risk of injury if you own a car.

heron · Jan 5, 2009

Then again, you have a much higher risk of injury if you own a car.

Yeah, especially the way some people drive these days . . .

TAB · Jan 5, 2009

Thats actually not shocking... more people kill themselfs with guns then any thing else. Its not the gun that makes them do it, its simply the fact that you are more likly to be succesful using a gun then other means of killing yourself.

zammyman · Jan 5, 2009

If you're 500 S&W goes off accidentally don't really need that health insurance

.
They should ask "do you go bar hopping then drive home drunk?"

FoMoGo · Jan 5, 2009

I always thought more people killed themselves in cars.

Jim

General Geoff · Jan 5, 2009

Not on purpose.

Guitargod1985 · Jan 5, 2009

It wouldn't surprise me one bit to learn that they use the Kellerman "study" as part of their risk assessment computation.

FoMoGo · Jan 5, 2009

Not on purpose.

We dont know this to be true.

There are a LOT of 1 car no passenger accidents out there.

Jim

nutter · Jan 5, 2009

I always thought more people killed themselves in cars.

Not on purpose.

Actually, you don't hear about it because of insurance companies and a generally litigious society. I don't have the link now, but I saw a stud where some European country with no-fault insurance laws and whatnot tracked all the single occupant fatal car crashes and determined that something silly like 80% of them were suicides.

My guess is you'd hear a lot more about "suicide by car" if it wasn't in many people's and many corporation's interests to keep these stats quiet.

But who knows, really.

zombienerd · Jan 5, 2009

One of my former bosses killed himself by car. Quite a sad story. His wife left him while we were in the middle of a 6 month deployment at the beginning of the war.

Two nights after we got back, he loaded himself up with booze, and put his minivan through the front of a Walgreens at 85mph. His BAC was .12. Was a damn shame, lost a very good friend, and one of the best bosses a guy could ever hope for.

I'm sure this happens more often than is reported.

KBintheSLC · Jan 5, 2009

Supposidly you have a higher risk of injury if you own guns.

I would say that is objectionable... especially if you take gun safety very seriously. I wonder what the stats are if your home is invaded... would you still be more at risk by having a gun then? I am doubtful.

Anyway, thats cool that they got rid of the question. Its really none of their business.

AS FOR CARS BEING MORE DANGEROUS... THEY ARE

Car Crash Stats: There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005. The financial cost of these crashes is more than 230 Billion dollars. 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed. About 115 people die every day in vehicle crashes in the United States -- one death every 13 minutes.

http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/stats.html

Guns...

The FBI's Crime in the United States estimated that 66% of the 16,137 murders in 2004 were committed with firearms.

http://www.ojp.gov/bjs/guns.htm

45crittergitter · Jan 9, 2009

Here's how to cure that problem - plagiarize away with my express permission:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=327803

Grey_Mana · Jan 9, 2009

My son's pediatrician asked if we had a gun in the house.

I asked if he had any advice on the subject, and if he were willing to be sued if the advice were found to be negligent, and if his malpractice insurance covered him giving expert medical advice on the topic.

My wife's take was priceless; she asked "Does anyone have just one gun in the house?"

cambeul41 · Jan 10, 2009

I saw a stud where some European country with no-fault insurance laws and whatnot tracked all the single occupant fatal car crashes and determined that something silly like 80% of them were suicides.

If true, we must obviously ban driving alone.

AirForceShooter · Jan 10, 2009

Grey I love your wife.

Does the survey still have the question about swimming pools?

AFS

Titan6 · Jan 10, 2009

This reminds me of the story of the guy who broke into Kmart late one night to shoot himself with a shotgun for the insurance money. He succeeded but the insurance company would not pay the family because he was in the middle of the commissioning of a felony.

If the want to find a way they will.

Jaybird78 · Jan 10, 2009

Did you know you are also more likely to commit suicide if you wear cloths, eat food, drink fluids, and breathe air?

Kinda funny uh, TRUST NO ONE..........

Wait......the magic box is done with commercials, I have to watch to "learn" the "facts" and "truths".

GOD HELP US

glockman19 · Jan 10, 2009

As a 20+ year Insurance & Financial Services Professional, I advise and answer N/A for anything I feel is "Not Applicable" on insurance applications.

ericyp · Jan 10, 2009

They're allowed to ask whatever they want to insure you to the cost they calculate. They also charge you more or less depending if you're old or not, male or female, black or white, or any seemingly inane thing they want. It should be no surprise that they include guns in there too.

Insurance survey asked if I owned guns.

Owen Sparks

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heron

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TAB

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zammyman

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FoMoGo

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General Geoff

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nutter

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