Paradise lost

December 6th, 2007 Written by Biz

I have been following the story of John and Anne Darwin with growing interest as it has gradually unfolded during the past few days. Although the full story has yet to emerge, it is increasingly looking as if the resurrected canoeing amnesiac and his wife, have been party to a large insurance scam and all I can say is lock them up and throw away the key…but perhaps for a different reason than you may think. 

 

Let us look more closely at what the couple might have done and what they deserve. 

 

It has been speculated that what initially caused John Darwin to emulate Reginald Perrin and disappear, was that he was heavily in debt and disillusioned with life. Life sometimes does get too much for many of us, but running away, either entirely, as with John Darwin, or just from an oppressive situation by refusing to face it, as many more choose to do, is never the solution. 

 

Adversity is a test, thrown upon our path by life and the only way to surmount it is by facing it. Have you ever noticed that when you are confronted with a particularly taxing situation and you evade it, it always pops up again and again somewhere down the line? Have you also noticed that once you have stood up and faced a situation, it never seems to bother you again? Well, it seems that John Darwin may have chosen to run away from his problems instead of facing them. If he had stayed he might have discovered that the fear of facing a problem is always 100 times worse than the act of facing it…for this he deserves our pity…but not jail. 

 

 

It seems increasingly probable that the Darwins knowingly made a false claim on John Darwin’s life insurance policy; some estimates put the figure at between £500,000 and £1 million. Whatever the figure, do they deserve jail for it? Not in by book. 

 

This might surprise the layman, but for those in the know…insurance companies knowingly cheat their clients on a daily basis. You just have to take a look in the terms and conditions and especially the exemption clauses in any policy, to discover that a plan specifically sold to you, might when the chips are down, be totally worthless. Furthermore, even if you have a valid claim, many companies, whether you know it or not, will actively try to find a reason not to pay your claim anyway…how do I know? Well, my wife worked for a major insurance company for many years…the tales she related to me were truly saddening, but not wishing to face litigation, I’ll decline to name the culprit. 

 

For those of you with a long enough memory though, you might also remember what motor insurance policies used to be like; you could get reasonable cover, even for a sporty car and if you decided to add a spoiler or body kit (enhancements that imply superior performance, in today’s insurance speak), you weren’t crucified financially. In those days, as long as you were accident free, you were guaranteed to pay a lower premium every year, as opposed to a higher one these days. Do you remember also, how after 5 years no claims, you would automatically have them protected at no extra charge? Nowadays, if you fail to pay the extra for protection, you can loose up to ¾ of your no claims! 

 

The fact is, that because insurance companies have a captive market, they have gradually rolled back their cover and benefits and gradually increased their premiums…basically they are shafting us all. So well done to the Darwins for getting one over on the insurance companies…even though it will only make a tiny dent in the billions that they make from us. 

 

The final act that the Darwins are guilty of, is that of taking their insurance spoils, along with the money raised from the sale of their house (the total is rumoured to be over £1million) and setting themselves up in Panama. 

 

In places like Panama, with that kind of money, you could live very comfortably in a sun kissed paradise, own a Caribbean beachfront residence, eat and drink well, enjoy a great social life with fellow ex-pats and never want for anything for the rest of your life. Instead of keeping a low profile though, John Darwin decided to walk into a police station and chuck all of that away…what a stupid moron. 

 

An opportunity that ordinary folk would die to have…but realistically never will, was just discarded.

 

Many people who toil everyday in their jobs and struggle to put a little aside for a pension so that when they reach 65, they might, at best, afford to lead sad shadows of lives, would have sold their very souls for just one shot at such an opportunity. The Darwins, for the act of having possessed the key to freedom and the ultimate expression of many people’s aspirations; but by choosing to become prisoners, deserve our derision and the inevitable sentence that they must have known would surely be their fate. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entry Filed under: Rants & Views