  What is Insurance?Customers can take out insurance for their car, home, pets, when they go on holiday, their life, against critical illnesses and for a huge range of other situations and products. Why do I need insurance?The reason you need insurance will vary based on the item or situation you are trying to insure. In the UK it's illegal to drive on the roads without motor insurance, and you wouldn't want to anyway. Your motor insurance protects you financially should you have an accident, and will pay for repairs and legal costs incurred by the other party if the accident is your fault, and if you have a fully comprehensive insurance policy will also pay for repairs to your own car. With cars costing an average of £5,000 to £10,000 and a lot costing an awful lot more than that can you afford not to have insurance? Your home insurance will protect your home and its contents should it be damaged or lost as a result of fire, theft, storm damage, flooding or other disasters and your travel insurance provides you with financial protection when you are out of the UK. When should I not take out insurance?You'll be offered a lot of insurance policies in your life, like when you buy a new phone, when you take out a mortgage, when you go on holiday, and you'll wonder whether you need them all. The important thing to do is check to see if it's a legal requirement, and then work out the worst case scenario should something go wrong. If you don't take out house insurance and your £200,000 house burns down then the worst case scenario is that you lose a £200,000 house and are left with nowhere to live and a huge mortgage. If you buy a £50 mobile phone, and the phone shop want to charge you £20 to insure it you may think that the worst case scenario is that you lose a £50 phone and that for the sake of £20, you are willing to take a risk. |
