The Insurance Religion Scam

While spending time with a friend of ours, she asked us a question which we thought was a bit weird. What she said wasn't overly strange, but a particular word she threw in made it interesting. We had given a financial freedom workshop and one of the attendees had talked to our friend. Our friend said that we had mentioned in our workshop that, "We don't believe in insurance". That was a funny way to phrase it. Saying it like that makes it seem like a religious thing, like believing in God. Then I got to thinking about some other things that seem religious:

 
If you don't believe in the effect of humanly caused flatulence destroying the universe then you are a climate change denier. You're not a sceptic that has yet to be convinced on the correlation of one thing to another. You're a deviant who is a danger to society because their emissions are unregulated. 
 
What about not believing that gay marriage is a good thing for society. Oh well, then you are a hateful bigot who needs to be put in their place. You need to be shunned and screamed at for being so intolerant to other viewpoints. I won't bother expressing my opinion. You have obviously read my mind, understand my motivations and determined my morality. I'm a heretic plain and simple.
 
Okay, maybe I have overreached a little with the comparisons. But why do peoplew believe that they need to have insurance? What is the purpose of insurance? It's to try to take away risk. So we need to treat it like we would with anything and ask what is my Return On Investment? What is the risk and return and do I actually need this insurance? 
 
Here is the list of religious insurance indulgences that our friend rattled through:
 
Home
 
We have this type of insurance, so no need to go preachy on me. The reason that we have it is that the cost of replacing a house is pretty stinking expensive. The premiums are high but we get someone else to pay for it anyway (tenants).
 
 
Contents
 
We don't "believe" in contents insurance. The things we own don't have much value. Although it would be a hassle to replace it all its not worth a lot. The cost of insurance and the excess would cost more.
 
 
Medical
 
We don't have medical insurance. Now before you stone me for my answer. We live in Australia at the moment where kids medical is free and adults are reasonably priced. I know you guys in the USA really have it bad because of your corrupt system (I'll leave that for another time). At some stage we will get medical, I'm sure. That will be when we feel that the return on any investment will be worth the risk (or vice versa). At the moment if we did have something major, we have plenty to be able to cover it. But every year we are saving something like 10 grand which I would rather have for myself than give to some fat insurer. If you multiply by 10 years then that would be 100K. I can use that somewhere else. If we have something major happen we have the cash saved. Now to you that can't save, that might be something different.
 
 
Vehicle
 
So funny. Our friend was shocked that we only have third party insurance (it is compulsory here, which is good because then I don't have to make a decision). We asked her how much she paid for her full cover insurance. It was about 3K. Well, that is more than what I paid for the vehicle we have (although I want to, I must not go into a story here!). She explained that it was a good deal because she had had hail damage 3 years ago which would've cost 10K to fix (but a mere 1K excess). Okay, so she used her insurance policy, yay. But every year she doesn't, it is 3K down the tubes (Resisting the urge to point out that she's since spent the additional 9k on insurance since the incident). 5 years equals 15k, 10 equals 30k. If you're rich, it doesn't matter, just do what you want. But if you need to be on some sorta budget, just get a cheaper vehicle, so if it has issues, shrug your shoulders and whistle a happy tune.
 
 
Roadside Assist
 
You can sign up for most of these on the spot. While it may be a little more expensive than your yearly dues, think of all the money you have saved over the years by not paying (or have you?)
 
Anyway, if you are an insurance junkie or have been blinded by the insurance church and its advocates. Be free! See the light (or back away from it). What do you think?