Insurance: accidents and who paysIN

IN1: claims from accidents, and the uninsured flow

Accidents come from your play, never from nowhere. The physical chain (the strike, the throw, its arc, what it can break, and the show) is MO3's, "what the blade throws" in Mowing: the mower bible: throws come from geometry (a clockwise blade and the deck's openings), and the old flat chances (~15% per strike at 3 cm and full speed, ~2% high and slow) are its calibration target. Damage happens only if something breakable is in the stone's path (the first design said within ~12 m; MO3 gives each opening its own range); no breakable, no damage, just a tink. The trimmer throws too, to the left as its chips do (its own spec). This page keeps who pays: the same events become claims.

Careful is a skill: walk the lawn and pick up stones first, raise the blade over known rocks, mow away from the glass. The show (MO3): tink, a spark, a short slow-mo, CRASH, the client's face at the window, an ego quip ("That window was ugly anyway.").

(The full price list, with garden lights, hoses, toys and the neighbour's window, is in J13.)

Before insurance exists, accidents are billed at cost by the client (EC1: flowers, debris, etched wood), with instalments or working it off (the damage billing in Jobs: from the phone call to the review), and the garden's tiers 3-4 don't ask for liability insurance.

The uninsured flow, on top of that billing:

• The client deducts the damage from today's pay; what's left over becomes a bill owed (unpaid → EC3's bounced-bill ladder, never game over).
• Paying at once with an apology softens the client's mood.
• "It was already cracked!" goes through the negotiation model: success saves the money, failure costs reputation and a review quoting you.
• Damage is the culprit's bill: the ledger names who did it ("Tom broke Mrs. Higgins' window, $250").

Needs: MO3, EC1, EC3 · Done when: an uninsured sibling's thrown stone breaks a window: the damage comes off today's pay, the rest becomes a bill owed that bounces if unpaid, the ledger names the culprit, and a failed "It was already cracked!" costs reputation and a review; the same on two instances.

IN2: personal insurance

Safe & Sound Mutual (a parody), on the computer from day 1. Premiums every 4 weeks (the tax letter's cycle, EC3).

• Deductible and no-claims bonus keep carefulness worth it even when insured: every claim raises the next premium (+25%, stacking), every 4 clean weeks lowers it (−10%, down to −40%).
• Balance rule: the premium ≈ what an average player's accidents cost. Careless players save by insuring, careful ones by self-insuring. A real choice, not an obvious one (the EC5 simulator checks it).

Before the company: personal policies, and siblings left in trouble

• Each sibling subscribes (or not) on their own, paid from their pocket or personal bank (EC2). Solo: the one player.
• The culprit pays: their own policy covers the damage if they have one.
• If the culprit isn't insured, every insured sibling gets the call: "Tom broke Mrs. Higgins' window ($250). Put it on your insurance?"
  • Take it: you pay your deductible and lose your no-claims bonus (your premium goes up); Tom pays nothing. Paying you back is between you two (nothing enforces it).
  • Leave them to it: Tom pays the full price.
  • The first insured sibling to say yes takes it; an insured sibling who isn't connected can't be asked (the culprit pays). The call stays open until the end of the day, then it's "leave them to it".
• A culprit who can't pay carries a personal debt: the client waits at the door for them at the next job, and that sibling's personal purchases are blocked until it's paid. Anyone can pay it for them (lockbox, pocket). The company's progress is never blocked by one sibling's debt.

Needs: IN1, EC2, EC3 · Done when: the guest breaks a window, the insured host takes it, and both see the host's premium go up; a claim nobody takes by the end of the day falls back on the culprit, and a culprit's debt blocks only their personal buys.

IN3: company insurance and other claims

• Company liability: required for the garden's tiers 3-4 once insurance exists (garden.md); it covers every sibling and every crew member, and the premium grows with the company (crews, commercial sites). Claims are the company's, the ledger still names the culprit, the no-claims bonus is the company's. Personal policies can be cancelled or kept (later: personal belongings and burglary, IN5).
• Other claims, on the same claim system: wood etched by the pressure washer (today a pay penalty), a felled tree on the fence (GA4), the client's car scratched in the driveway, a patio flooded by the hose.
• Crews cause accidents too, by their skill (EC4), so insurance matters more as you grow.

Needs: IN2, EC4 · Done when: a registered company's policy pays for a crew member's broken window and the ledger names them, the premium follows the company's size, and a tier-3 contract can't be signed without the policy.