Perhaps the biggest con in recent times is the insurance industry. When a society feeds on fear, insurance is the package that is sold as the antidote. The biggest aspect of this is this recent insurance on consumer goods.

"Would you like to take out insurance on that?" is the industries new motto. This is usually anything from a toaster to a PC, regardless of the price of the item. This is usually followed up with an offer of the extended guarantee, "guaranteed protection for up to three years" they tell us. On the surface it seems like a good idea, peace of mind for the item you have just purchased.

But you don't have to excavate too far below the surface to see the true stench of this consumer robbery. Shouldn't an item be expected to work beyond a year anymore? Is it ok to spend 500 on a large electrical item that only lasts 12 months?

This is not the only point of the matter too. Once a store takes your money do you think it is often easy to get them to come out and service the item? No. Do you think that they gladly replace old items for new? No. Stores are not making millions each year out of insurance cover by replacing items at the drop of a hat.

What they hope is that after three to four years the item you have purchased will want replacing anyway with the latest new technology or fashion. Either that or we will have lost or forgotten about the insurance cover. I recently bought a kettle for around 7 and I was asked if I wanted to take out an extended guarantee on it. This is nothing more than insanity. What's next an insurance policy for the daily papers? The biggest joke is that we live in a throw away society and nobody is going to replace a faulty kettle after four years. They laugh at us as they take our money in the knowledge of this.

Household insurance schemes are not exempt from this either, they are often quick to find small print and exploit loop-holes in your policies that prevent them from having to folk out their hard stolen money.
"That hole in your roof is not covered against weather conditions", "we don't insure against wear and tear" and "it is the wrong type of rain for your cover". Excuse me?

How about the humble car insurance dealer? We are constantly bombarded by advertisements for car insurance, all day every day, in all its annoying forms. How much money are they actually stinging us out of if they can afford to throw so much away on advertisements? The shameful truth is that the person is usually

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