Originally posted by far-trader:
As for stolen parts on legit otherwise ships, that should be caught at your next annual recertification. Barring incompetance on the inspectors part, or bribery 
Depends where you get inspected and what your XO's Bribery level is, as you say. Or the technoflimflammery level of your engineer
I agree with the comment made about property law. Or more correctly, let me put it into an insurance man's lingo, since Dad worked in that line of work for a bit of time.
The actuarial tables will be setup such that fees charged will reflect losses + profit. If losses go up, so do fees (in this case, interest on loans).
Things I can see working, since I don't think transponders are the foolproof answer:
Imperial Ministry of Justice - sharing data between worlds on skipped ships. Sure, if you run and keep running, you can outrun the data. But if you ever turn back or stop, it'll catch up eventually. Justice isn't fast sometimes, but it works eventually.
Skip Tracers - I can see a thriving business in skip tracing. Good high tech recovery teams with warrants to operate as recovery agents in Imperial territory and with a mid-jump starship (better than most freighters or other ships likely to be hijacked). I mean, if a ship insurer has to pay 20% of ships value to get it back, that's still a deal compared with 100%
Software Safegaurds - a Bank could demand you run with 'LockWare' installed that locks up the controls at some predetermined time if you haven't visited a branch, made a payment, and got an updated security code. It also locks up instantly if it catches you cracking it. Very high computer level needed to crack.
Lobbying for Ruthless Punishments for 'Skips' - If every time one of these guys is brought back, he gets life imprisonment on some unpleasant rock, that's a bit of a deterrent. And caught skips would be publicized just to help convey the point that 'you ain't gettin' away from the banks'.
Ever notice how in real life, some financial crimes can really get the book thrown at you? (Now, not all of them, but particular ones that annoy the powerful and rich?)
Transponder - It isn't be all end all. They can probably be tampered with, fooled, or reasoned with (hey, a complicit transponder... interesting idea!). They can obviously be threatened with being starved of power (food). They may even be able to be negotiated with. Who knows, depending on the reasons, they may even want to help. But one way or another, they are *a* line of defence.
I just don't see them as the be all end all.
Many ships could be stripped of easily-removable stuff fast and left drifting or sent into a sun or gas giant to get rid of them. Things like vacc suits, the captains safe, computer programs, cargo, fuel, easily removable circuit modules, small craft, perhaps even weapons and the like.
Other things like the jump drive, the manouver drive, masking systems, etc. might take more to strip off and require a black yard. Sure these will be rare, but who would know about them? The kind of folks who need them - pirates, scum, etc. In fact, an illicit privateering or piracy campaign may be underwritten by a megacorp yard or a planetary navy yard if they're 1) running a game their higher ups don't know about or 2) running a game their higher ups have ordered for some political end (knowing the risks if they get caught). Think of this as an economic version of the kind of operation that Mr. Ritter organized in the Tom Clancy movie with Harrison Ford and Willem Dafoe (Clear and Present Danger?).
So, the answer is: Yes, banks will set rates that reflect losses. The standard rates in the book probably reflect 'secure' sector rates (like the more civilized parts of the marches during the stable 3I). As times change, or as you get further out, banks will want higher and higher rates and in some situations, will not undertake the risk deeming there to be no sufficient point of return that they can count on (the rates are so high people always skip or that they'd bankrupt any merchant venture sadled with them).
Banks may also consider things like giving a discounted rate for ships willing to carry one or more of their agents as crew. I mean, a bank having to pay a salary to the agent as well as him getting a crew salary makes it good for him to stay, and he probably has a family somewhere the bank can get at, so this tends to insure his loyalty.
Also, the bank may give high initial rates, and give reductions for captains who make a year, two years, five years, ten years, or twenty years worth of payments. That is to say, you become less of a risk once you establish a history of payment and success.
There are some other thoughts.
