I fly an Anaconda and I've decided to never pay them again. If it reaches 0% and the rebuy is cheaper I'll just be more careful. When I die the cycle will repeat but I'm not going to suicide for a new ship.
The more I think about it, the more I see it's completely pointless. After it reaches 0%, you have 30% less hull hit points. On my Anaconda, I'm going to run if my shields are down anyways so it's not like that 30% will save you because players will be targeting the powerplant anyways. NPCs aren't a threat.