how does insurance work?

[jadefriendly]

I;ve been lucky enough not to die yet (though it got hairy with one interdiction that I only just managed to run away from)

I have not yet bought any insurance - because I havent worked out where to buy it, or what it exactly does?

can anyone enlighten me? ta!

 

[Agony_Aunt]

You don't buy insurance in advanced as strange as it sounds. When you die, you need to pay the insurance cost of the ship or you lose it. Look at your right hand panel, it will tell you the insurance cost of your ship.

 

[Raf von Thorn]

You dont need to buy it. Whenever you die, you are presented with an option, if to rebuy the ship you died in for a fracture of its worth, or go with a free sidewinder. Thats why you always should have enough money in your bank account, its really worth it. If you look at the right panel in your ship, theres an info, how much would you pay for your current ship insurance.

 

[Vim]

Also related an worth mentioning are loans: If your insurance value is less than 200k and you don't have enough money on-hand when you die, you can take out a loan to cover the replacement cost.

The loan will be repaid automaticaly over time, taking 10% out of all your earnings until the loan is repaid. I don't know of any "lump sum" way to pay it off -- it seems you just need to grind it down.

If you still have a loan out and you die penniless again, the loan for the new replacement will be tacked onto your existing loan.

If your ship's replacement cost is more than 200k (well-equipped vipers/cobras or larger ships) or more than the remaining loan amount available to you, then make sure you have the cash on hand in case you die or you'll be back in a sidewinder.