Insurance for transformers

[mknell]

Wouldn't it be under home and contents insurance?

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I'd say life insurance, but to be honest, with the high risk of dying, after all they are in the midst of a civil war, I very much doubt that any insurance company would want to take that on. Plus imagine how much the parts must cost for living machines....

Optimus could well be up for fraudulent activity as well. Dying, then his claim goes to his next of kin and BAM! He's back again! And on holiday in the Bahamas. Oh how conveneient...

[griffin]

Wouldn't it be under home and contents insurance?

For the toys, yes.

It took me a while to figure it out as well, but this was just asking hypothetically if Transformers were real - since they have vehicle modes, what insurance would they be eligible for?

[Cat]

OT: Everyone should ensure their collections are insured.

I KNOW most people don't have adequate coverage for theirs.

[Arcee]

I guess a more perplex question would be: for a transformer with car mode, health insurance or car insurance?

So basically, say if Bumblebee's got battle damaged, to save his life and restore his health is not so much different work for Ratchet as what it takes for a mechanic to repair a crashed car.

[GoktimusPrime]

Not necessarily. Repairing car parts on a Transformer is like doing plastic surgery on a human... it's only on the surface. The internal workings of a Cybertronian are far beyond what an average motor mechanic would be able to comprehend.

e.g.:
+ In G1 (Power Play!) while Sparkplug was able to repair Bumblebee, he did remark that it was a more higher level job than on a normal car. G1 did portray Sparkplug as being an above average mechanic though (in the cartoon he was like a freakin' genius! e.g. being able to assist in repairing Omega Supreme and construct Autobot X! )

+ When Bumblebee was killed by G.I. Joe Mainframe remarked that he was unable to piece him back together because the technology was beyond his understanding -- the Joes later did rebuild Bumblebee as Goldbug with Ratchet's assistance.

+ When Raoul opened up Tracks' bonnet he was amazed at his teched out engine (yet primitive enough for Tracks' core consciousness to go offline if a single and poorly protected wire is severed! )

So even if it fell under a form of automotive insurance, it would have to be an entirely different kind from normal auto insurance. I think really it'd have to be something different from normal life and auto insurance. It should really be classified as a kind of life/health insurance (because you're dealing with living and sentient beings here, not property). And an auto-moded Autobot wouldn't be sent to a regular mechanic for repair... it's not as if Mikaela's gaolbird dad fixed any of the Autobots when they were damaged. Repairing an Autobot would require medical attention beyond what a mechanic could offer.

The parts would be completely different because their panels and stuff have nanoscopic (?) seams and stuff that come apart during transformation -- if you replaced say a panel that divides into different parts during transformation with a normal car panel, either that panel would hinder transformation, or it would be torn apart! It'd be like replacing a human's leg with a prosthetic leg with NO knee or ankle joint... they absolutely would not be able to walk on that with any remote semblance of a normal stride.

It's not as if you could just replace the chest plate of an Autobot who transforms into a Harrier jet fighter with the front grille of a Rolls Royce; that'd just be stupid, right?

[bowspearer]

Actually, it'd be closer to industrial insurance than anything as you'd be dealing in some highly advanced electro-mechanical repairs being required.

[Cat]

It's not as if you could just replace the chest plate of an Autobot who transforms into a Harrier jet fighter with the front grille of a Rolls Royce; that'd just be stupid, right?

Like fixing a human heart with parts off a pig, or a mechanical device to make it beat regularly.

[GoktimusPrime]

I imagine both of those procedures would be covered under life insurance and not say livestock insurance for the pig parts or content insurance for the mechanical device.