WTF??!!?

Last year I paid £263 for my comprehensive auto insurance policy.  I have - touch wood - never had an accident, a traffic citation or made a claim after seven years.  I am also in a highly desirable 'demographic' for insurers.

So how have the venal little f*ckers in the insurance industry rewarded me for my earnestness and clean-living?  By almost trebling my effing rate for this year to £729, that's how.

When I called the insurer to point out to them that 'there must be some mistake' they very glibly informed me that there was no mistake and that they were using the same protuberant device on all drivers - sans lubricant!  After a quick recitation of my famous 'customer service' speech, I put the phone down and tried to find out what the bleedin' heck was going on.

Okay, look, I know it's the Guardian but at least they have an explanation....

...there has also been a big rise in organised fraud, where criminal gangs work to systematically defraud insurers. The most common way of doing this is via a "cash for crash" scam, where criminals stage accidents, typically at roundabouts, by slamming their brakes on suddenly causing the car behind to crash into them. The fraudsters then claim for the cost of repair or replacement of their vehicle on the innocent driver's insurance.

Yes, that's right.  Bulgarians.  I know it doesn't say Bulgarians but that is because it is the Guardian.  It's Bulgarians.  Freaking Bulgarians, and we get the treatment!

Is this an immigration issue?  Possibly, but not really.  Is this yet another example of a state that finds it easier to allow an industry to bully and bludgeon the innocent rather than solve a criminal problem that will require getting tough with unpleasant people (yes, the insurance people too!)?  Most assuredly.