Gun Liability Insurance Bills Aren’t the Answer, Says Insurance Industry [View all]

[slackmaster]

Presented for general discussion in General Discussion:

Congress appears ready to take up gun control legislation for the first time in years, with proposals under consideration focusing on background checks, straw purchases and money for school safety.

If the debate stays on those issues, the insurance industry will be mostly on the sidelines but if any bills requiring that gun owners carry liability insurance start to move, the industry’s lobbyists can be expected to spring into action....

...One gun insurance bill has been filed in the House. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., has filed the Firearms Risk Protection Act of 2013 (HR 1369), which would require gun owners to purchase liability coverage and to show proof of that coverage when they purchase a firearm....

...“Liability coverage is designed to protect against accidental damages, most of which involving guns would be covered under a homeowner’s insurance policy. While some policies may provide coverage for liability stemming from the intentional use of a firearm for defensive purposes, no liability insurance product covers intentional acts of malicious violence, whether committed with a gun, a car, or any other instrument that is used as a weapon to deliberately harm people,” said Grande. “It is inconceivable that any insurer would offer such coverage, either as part of a homeowners or renters policy or on a stand-alone basis....”

Please see the rest of the copyrighted article at http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2013/04/10/287849.htm#

There is much more in the copyrighted article on the Insurance Journal's online edition, including mention of how companies would determine premiums. Generally, policyholders who are found through actuary data to be at higher risk of accidental damage pay higher premiums, and people who are at lower risk pay lower premiums. To me the most compelling point made in the article and some of the comments are that no company is going to cover damage caused by gross willful or criminal misconduct; and that standard homeowner's and renter's policies already cover damage from genuine accidents. In fact a large percentage of people who own guns already have some liability coverage.