Question

Pro-Tect Insurance Company has recently been paying out more on car-theft claims than it expected. Cars with special antitheft devices or alarm systems are much less likely to be stolen than are other cars. Consequently Pro-Tect, as part of an effort to reduce its annual payouts, will offer a discount to holders of car-theft policies if their cars have anti-theft devices or alarm systems.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest indication that the plan is likely to achieve its goal?

(A) The decrease in the risk of car theft conferred by having a car alarm is greatest when only a few cars have such alarms.
(B) The number of policyholders who have filed a claim in the past year is higher for Pro-Tect than for other insurance companies.
(C) In one or two years, the discount that Pro-Tect is offering will amount to more than the cost of buying certain highly effective antitheft devices.
(D) Currently, Pro-Tect cannot legally raise the premiums it charges for a given amount of insurance against car theft.
(E) The amount Pro-Tect has been paying out on car theft claims has been greater for some models of car than for others.

Answer 1

Answer:

The correct answer is C) In one or two years, the discount that Pro-Tect is offering will amount to more than the cost of buying certain highly effective antitheft devices.

Explanation:

For the Pro-Tect plan to work, at least some of the insured who do not currently have an anti-theft device or an alarm system must decide to install such device or system due to the discount. If the cost of anti-theft devices is very high in relation to the size of the discount, the discount may not be enough to encourage policyholders to buy such devices. Option (C) tells us that the devices would "pay for themselves" after only a year or two and, therefore, that customers installing those devices will save money every successive year. The fact that customers have a financial incentive to install such devices provides a strong indication that the plan will achieve its objective. Keep the option (C).