Capitalism is a wonderful invention. Although there’s always some interest in the product and its quality, the real focus is always on the amount of profit being made. Businesses look at the bottom line and, based on market share, assess whether the prices can be increased. In the pharmaceutical industry, no one really cares about “doing good”. Yes, we are the potential patients but, when the columns of figures are added up, the only question is whether we had the money to pay. Indeed, there’s increasing concern as some of the new designer drugs are targeted at less common diseases where higher prices can be justified. In a crowded market where there are competing products, prices are driven lower. It’s therefore bad business to spend a lot of money promoting brands in these markets.

All of which brings us to some new figures. As it stands, the little blue pills have been the leading drug in terms of pure profit. While every manufacturer has to recover its research and development costs, the actual cost of the chemical ingredients and manufacturing is low, and Pfizer has been making the largest percentage profit from any drug. This is all about to change. Even though it’s only available legally in a few US states, the profit from medical marijuana is significantly greater than for any manufactured drugs. This arises from the basic nature of the product. It’s farmed and, once in production, seeds can be gathered for the next crop. This year, the pharmaceutical industry is projecting that sales of medical marijuana will exceed $1.7 billion.

You’ve definitely seen many of those cars that the TV show “Pimp My Ride” and many other love to highlight. It has become a real fad among car owners, especially the younger ones, to customize their vehicles for the purpose of reflecting their individuality through the car they drive. Sure, in such an individualistic society as we all are there’s nothing wrong or bad about such a fad. However, quite often when it comes to insuring such vehicles their owners tend to overlook the changes their car has be subjected to, believing that their policy will cover it in case of an accident. And it’s such a bitter feeling when they actually file a claim and get covered partially or denied coverage in general. What’s wrong with custom cars that insurance companies are so picky about them?

First of all let’s take a look at what the insurance company covers in the first place. When you purchase a policy the company is obliged to cover the losses to your car in its form as the policy was signed according to its market value or independent evaluation. What happens when you decide to customize it? You change certain parts of the car from original to custom and effectively alter the market value of your vehicle. Let’s agree that installing a stereo system worth of 6k to your 3k Honda Civic is actually altering its price in a drastic manner. And in case you end up filing a claim for the altered value and configuration of your vehicle the insurance company has the right to deny you with coverage simply because you’ve altered the value of the insurance object without informing the insurer. It’s like buying a cheap computer, upgrading it with the most advanced parts, and then trying to get a refund for the final value of your PC because there was a short circuit in your flat.

The fad for electric and hybrid drive is still on the rise these days, with more models being introduced by car makers and new incentives offered for purchasing such environmental-friendly vehicles. You see more of these vehicles on the road and it may look like a good bargain to buy one. But what’s the situation when you actually try to insure such cars? Are they on par with their carbon-footprint peers or there are some peculiarities when it comes to covering such vehicles?

While electric motor vehicles haven’t been around for long enough to speak about any lengthy claims history, hybrid cars have been on the market for almost a decade and insurance providers have all the statistics they need to determine adequate insurance rates for such vehicles. And to much surprise, owning a hybrid vehicle doesn’t automatically mean that you’ll get better insurance rates.