The 5th Empire - Insurance

The 5th Empire has no higher authority than its citizens. No-one is in a position to force a citizen to buy anything, including insurance. However, this does not mean that the empire is full of uninsured individuals. 5th Empire citizens are just as concerned about unfortunate eventualities as everybody else. In fact, insurance companies play a more important role in the empire than in state run society.

Insurance companies in the 5th Empire cannot rely on the state to take care of patrolling and criminal investigations. If a citizen with a life insurance is killed, it is up to insurance companies to investigate and find out if something criminal has taken place. If a neighbourhood finds itself plagued by robberies and break ins, affected insurance companies will pay for security guards to patrol the area so that losses can be reduced.

The typical 5th Empire citizen carry insurance against theft, fraud, violent attacks, loss of life and property. It is therefore in the interest of insurance companies to keep citizens safe. This means that insurance companies, in cooperation with security companies, take on the task of arresting and locking away criminal individuals.

However, locking up criminals is an expense that insurance companies would rather be without. They will gladly release criminals as soon as possible. If anyone can pay for damages and guarantee against future losses, insurance companies will let criminals go.

The only individuals permanently locked up will be those who are so dangerous that no-one wants to bail them out, and no insurance company will take the risk of letting them out. In all other cases, individuals will be released, either on bail or after a minimal time of imprisonment. The prison population of the 5th Empire will typically be smaller than in state run society.

While locking up truly dangerous individuals will be good PR for insurance companies, the same cannot be said about cases where individuals get locked up for minor offences, or wrongfully imprisoned all together. People will take note of this and buy insurance with companies they feel do a better job. Companies that mess up will loose customers.

However, no company will be perfect. There will be mistrials and wrongful imprisonments. There will also be disputes and conflicts. It is not always clear what actually happened. There may also be disagreements as to what does and does not constitute a crime. To work out such cases, we require laws and arbitration.

Accident - By Damnsoft 09 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, Link