I have a grandmother who is 86 years old, often she talks about how different things were when she was younger. Everything seemed so much more secure back then, nobody gave much thought to locking the front door and Insurance was unheard of! Let’s get back to the future, these days insurance has become a necessary evil. Our lives have become much faster paced, the cost of living has increased as well as unemployment and crime.
Insurance has become a security net for millions of people. Having insurance we feel secure knowing that if anything should happen to us or to our possessions we will have the necessary money to help with the financial burden as the result or theft or damage. In this article we will explore what insurance is and how it can benefit us.
What is insurance?
An online encyclopedia describes insurance as a type of risk management used to hedge against the risk of uncertain loss. Simply put, insurance is the transfer of the risk of loss from you to an insurer at a fee called a premium. This premium is calculated by the insurance company based on certain risk factors. For example with life insurance your premiums will be higher if you are a smoker because you are a greater risk.
There are many different types are insurance from; household to car insurance, travel to liability insurance and some really strange ones such as body-part insurance ( created by Hollywood stars who want to ensure that if something should happen to their famous legs or smile and lost work they will be paid out).
What can insurance offer you?
If you have a house, car or any other valuable possessions, insurance allows you the security of knowing that your most valuable items will be replaced if anything should ever happen to them. What about your most cherished assets, your life and the lives of your loved ones? Although no value can be attached to a loved one, life insurance can give you the peace of mind knowing that when you are gone their well-being is being taken care of.
Your car is one of your most valuable assets with the highest risk factor unless you hardly drive it. If you should be in accident even small damages cost a lot of money to repair. Car insurance allows you to be able to pay for those damages as well as any other damages to another person’s property. Car insurance is a must for anyone who drive frequently.
Household insurance as previously mentioned ensures that in the event of a burglary or any damage to your house cause by fire for example, you will be covered. You may have to pay an extra amount on the happening of such an event called an excess, the amount will differ depending on the type of policy.
The other types of valuable insurances are life insurance and health insurance. These cover your most valuable assets of all. Your life and the lives of your loved ones. Life insurance will provide your beneficiary with a lump sum that you have earlier paid for, or you can cash in the policy when you so please. Health insurance ensures that in the event of illness or hospitalization you have enough money to pay for expensive medical costs if you ever need medical assistance.
Some possessions are irreplaceable for the sentimental value they hold for us, and the loss of a loved one can never be calculated but insurance policies help us with the financial burden once the loss has occurred.