Lower benefit payments are ultimately what motivate the insurers.The federal government's idea that there would be significantly fewer claims has led to the shipping industry paying claims at vastly exaggerated rates for decades. The terms of their exchange could be viewed as a form of corporate welfare, but these contracts guarantee transportation corporations a consistent flow of private insurance funds. These days, bids are submitted at the federal government-determined shipping rates by insurance underwriters in the US, Canada, and Australia. Many ships owned by shipping corporations were insured by government programs for years or even decades; in certain cases, the insurance premium was deducted from shipping revenues.