Insurance: Another peek

     So I did another look at insurance.  As I was experimenting in a Myrmidon on the lowbie toon in a storyline combat mission, I had completely forgotten about "orbiting" and was flying the BC in the combat mission like a parked BS in an Incursion.  Not an entirely clever strategy, especially in a toon with high indy skills and relatively low or non-existent combat and core skills.  Surprise, surprise, the Myrmidon popped.  This wasn't one of those "way in over your head" scenarios either, as the boat had dual reppers, AB and 4 active hardeners, so it was taking a while to die, but somehow I thought that as the rats popped, the incoming DPS would drop enough that the dual staggered reppers would slowly claw things back.  I hate running away, and that means I usually wait too long, and then can't run away in anything but a pod.

     Anyway, about the insurance.  Keeping a rough tally of the build cost of the Myrmidon, it was just under the 30 million mark.  About 20 for the boat and 10 million for the mods, rigs, ammo and drones.  The first BC that popped wasn't insured.  The "no insurance " insurance payout was about 7.5 million.  To insure the boat for the best policy was also about 7.5 million, and the payout is almost 29 million.  Total boat cost is ~37 million with insurance, so the net insurance return on its loss is 22 million, and a net loss of about 9 million.  If the boat wasn't insured at all, it would still be the ~30 million cost, minus the 7.5 million "un-insurance", for a net loss of about 22.5 million.  If I do insure it, don't lose it until after the insurance runs out, and don't insure it a second time, then the net loss is back to about the original cost of the boat, 30 million.

     Now, if I was a hard core pvper, I'd likely insure everything I undocked in.  It'd still be a money-losing venture, but not as bad as no insurance at all, obviously.  In my current PVE Eve universe though, I guess the only boats it's worth considering insuring are the combat boats.  The Hulks and Macs have paid for themselves multiple times and the risk of losing them is very low.  Same with the transports.  I'm not too worried about frigates, but I guess for battlecruisers and battleships, I'll likely insure them at least initially.  The bonus with Incursion boats, is that if you lose an armor incursion boat in an Incursion site, the crew from TDF and BTL will reimburse you up to 500 million.  Where, how and why?  Well, the money they make from auctioning off the MOM site drops goes towards a ship replacement fund, and as people don't seem to lose too many ships anymore, the fund is fairly flush with cash.

The Point?  If a ship is likely to be lost to misadventure, I guess it's worth it to insure the boat initially.  After that though, I likely won't insure it again.

Insurance assurance

     Early on in playing Eve, and maybe even in the tutorial, a player is told to buy insurance.  A good thing for a cash-strapped newb, but not so much of a big deal now that I am more flush with cash.  I never worried much about insurance as 9 times out of 10, I usually lose my boats AFTER the policy has expired, and as I am allergic to checking my mail, I usually miss the mail notices that my insurance has expired.  I'll maybe go do some experimenting with insurance costs on cheaper boats, but something made me stop buying insurance at all, a little while ago, and I forgot what it was until I recently had to replace my Incursion-expired N Geddon.  "Ah haaa, she cried!", as I insured my replacement, NOW I remember why!

    After I built up my new Incursion geddoG, I decided to insure it.  Last one I built, I thought I insured it, but probably didn't.  Likely forgot.  No problem.  I don't undock anything I can't afford to lose, and if there's something I can't afford to lose, I don't buy it in the first place.  So, enough philosophy . . . the numbers.

     After I lost the BS, I got a handy email from Concord, I think, telling me that they gave me 17.7 million bucks for my Geddon.  Cool.  It's "insurance for people that don't have insurance" insurance.  As I said, I insured the new boat, and it cost me over 17 million to insure it for about 41 million - max insurance available.  Not a whole lot of security for a faction BS, and I'll have to check and see if that is the max insurance for a T1 BS too.  So, in theory, if I lose my BS before the policy expires, I make 24 million back, net.  If I don't lose the boat before the insurance expires, I either spend another 17 million, or don't renew the policy.  If I spend ANOTHER 17 million, now I'll only get an extra 7 million back (40-17 = 24-17 = 7).  So, if I compare the un-insurance insurance (which cost me nothing) to the "extra" 24 million I'd get back if I bought an insurance policy, the difference is only about 6 million extra.  Not much considering the hundreds of millions lost due to the cost of the boat in the first place.  Also, if I manage to hang onto the boat long enough for the insurance to run out, I'm only "up" about an extra half a million.  6 million isn't even one Vanguard, and only about 30 minutes of mining.  Not a lot of effort.

     Now, when it comes to Eve, it's all about isk/hour and any "free" isk is good isk.  So, on one hand, 6 million isn't much, but on the other hand, especially with an Incursion boat, the likelihood is higher that I will lose the boat at some point, so that 6 million extra might actually be 24 million extra.  I fitted out a couple Myrmidons for the alts, and they were about 30 million each.  I'll see how much I can get back with a maxxed insurance policy.  Same with the smaller boats and Hulks.

The Point?  I need to confirm that insurance is worth the money I pay.  It probably is, otherwise it wouldn't be an option in the first place.  I just need to confirm that.