Public Desires and Automobile Property Damage Insurance

Abstract

In an article in this issue of the Journal, the authors conclude that sufficient evidence does not exist to warrant the modification or abolition of the negligence concept as it applies to automobile property damage.' In an effort to provide further information pertaining to the question whether the automobile property damage liability insurance system should be changed, a questionnaire was developed to investigate consumer desires. Although many questionnaires pertaining to automobile insurance have been reported in the literature, none has focused upon automobile property damage insurance. Such is the objective of this research. The justification is that any changes in the system for compensating automobile property damage losses should not be made without consideration of the desires of the public. This study includes a random sample of 300 households whose automobiles had been involved in accidents in South Carolina during 1972-73. The names of the households were obtained from a major state agency. Persons from these households were selected for interview because it was believed that they would have a realistic basis upon which to judge the need for, and suggest changes in the present automobile insurance system. From the 300 households selected, a response rate of 80 percent was obtained through telephone interviews and 240 questionnaires were completed during October and November 1973.2 Respondents were in-