A Guide to Insurance
Insurance policies are a necessity for many of us in modern life and are purchased to protect individuals and their property from loss or liability to others. Many people choose to purchase and administer their insurance policies through specialist insurance brokers.
What types of insurance are there?
There are many different types of policies that can be purchased through an insurance broker. Most of us are familiar with motor insurance and buildings insurance as these are policies that many of us are legally required to have in place, but there are many other types of insurance on offer to protect us should the worst arise.
If you own a business or provide people with a service then the chances are you are also legally required to have a policy in place to protect you and your clients against a possible claim. These types of business insurance can range from Professional Indemnity cover, which protects business such as accountants or solicitors who provide people with advice, to Public Liability cover that protects businesses and self-employed people against causing any damage or injury to members of the public that they come in to contact with.
Examples of other types of policies that can be purchased through an insurance broker include holiday insurance, pet insurance and extra cover for high value items such as jewellery and pieces of art that may be too valuable to be covered under a standard contents insurance policy.
Why use an insurance broker?
Many people choose to handle their policies through an insurance broker for several reasons. Firstly, an insurance broker is there to act as an intermediary between you and the actual insurer who is underwriting your policy. The broker is there to provide you with advice and recommend to you the best type of policy to fit your requirements. An insurance broker will take some information from you and then compare different insurers to find the most competitively priced policy that fits your needs.
Many insurance policies come with lots of small print and possible exclusions and the role of the insurance broker is to ensure you are aware of the levels of cover provided and any possible exclusions listed in the terms of the policy.
If you are unfortunate enough to need to make a claim against any of your policies the role of insurance brokers in this instance is to minimise the hassle that you incur by liaising with the claims department on your behalf.
When the policy is nearing the renewal date then the insurance broker will contact you to remind you and offer you the best price available at that time. This helps to ensure you are never left uninsured and facing a possible costly claim.