Insurance quotes are very much like any other quote that a person may receive for services. They are a fairly accurate estimate or exact price that an individual will incur in accepting the services of the company. Instead of dealing with prices as with once off services though, an insurance quote states the premiums an insured party would pay for the insurance company to cover them. The primary aspect of an insurance quote is the premiums which are payable in order to obtain coverage, but a proper insurance quote should also list the value for which an insured party is coverable, the property which is covered, as well as the conditions of the cover. It is also important for the insurance quote to list the implications and conditions of excess that the insured party may have to pay.

Essentially, the purpose of the insurance quote is to provide the potential customer with as much information as is possible so that they can make an informed decision as to whether they want to accept the insurance services or not. It is therefore imperative that the insurance company is transparent and does not purposely withhold vital information in order to deceive the potential customer. It is equally important for the insured party to be transparent on all the information that the insurance company requires in order to compile the insurance quote as well as on other information which may be relevant to the insurance company.

If the insured party is seeking insurance on tangible property, the insurance will usually send out an assessor, to assess the risk involved in insuring the insured party before compiling the insurance quote. It is often also necessary for the insured individual to compile an inventory list of all the items that fall under the insurance cover and their purchase value. This is especially true when taking out household insurance on the contents of the house. The information that the insured submits has to be accurate for the insurance quote to reflect their coverage and premiums properly.

It is possible for an individual to more than one insurance policy on a single asset, since there is no law which prohibits it. In the event of loss however the individual may not claim the full value of the loss from both insurance companies, since the principle of indemnity forbids them from recovering more than the loss. The principle states that an insured party may neither be in a better off nor worse of position after the claim, but should remain in the same state as they were prior to the loss. If the insured individual does have two insurance policies on one asset he/she can choose to claim the full value from only one insurance company, or to recover part of the loss from each of the insurance companies. People seldom have more than one insurance policy on one asset, but they may do so in order to take advantage of the varied offerings from both insurance companies.