Car insurance is a legal requirement of anyone who drives a car, although it is estimated that there are currently more than 1.7 million uninsured drivers in the UK. Car insurance will cover you for relatively small things such as losing your keys, repairing a windscreen and the costs of a hire car while yours is being repaired. It also covers you for bigger, more important things such as motor legal cover and personal accident claims, which can be very useful in the event of you being in a car accident – whether or not the accident was your fault.
This means that there are several benefits to having comprehensive car insurance:
As it is a legal obligation, you will be saving yourself a lot of potential problems by making sure you comply with the law and take out insurance in the first place.
If you lose your car keys (and it does happen from time to time) and can’t get into your car, you’ll be able to claim on the insurance to get new keys made.
If your windscreen needs repairing or replacing, you’ll be able to do this really easily – and normally, it won’t even affect your no claims record.
In the event of you having an accident, you will be able to claim compensation on your insurance. This could be useful if you are injured – particularly if you have to go to hospital or are unable to work for a time as a result of the accident.
If you need to cover the cost of legal fees associated with an accident or other motoring incident, your insurance will do this for you.
You will be able to access a courtesy car in the event of your car being taken away for repairs or rendered unable to drive.
Home Insurance – what is it?
Home insurance is another legal requirement and so it definitely makes sense to have it. It will cover you for incidents such as electrical failure in your house, water pipes bursting and your boiler breaking down. It can also cover things such as losing your keys, and family legal cover, which you can make use of if someone covered by the insurance is involved in an accident or employment dispute. It’s important to remember that home insurance is different to possessions or contents insurance; while the latter tends to refer to the building itself, contents insurance is not a legal requirement and it refers to your possessions within the building.
As it’s a legal requirement, it obviously makes sense to ensure you have comprehensive house insurance.
If you lose your keys, you’ll be able to claim against the insurance to get new keys and/or get the locks changed.
If something unexpectedly goes wrong in the house, you’ll be able to claim in order to get it sorted out. This can include the cost of labour and parts for fixing things such as broken boilers and burst pipes.
In the event of someone in your house needing legal assistance, they can claim on the house insurance for a variety of things, which can help to cut down on potentially costly legal bills.
Travel Insurance – what is it?
Travel insurance isn’t a legal requirement but it is certainly useful. It covers you for all sorts while you’re on holiday, including your baggage, money, personal accident and injuries, your holiday being cancelled, delayed or cut short, and more. Many policies now also offer terrorism coverage.
This means that travel insurance has many benefits:
If you require healthcare in another country it could be costly if you don’t have insurance; the insurance will keep costs to a minimum.
If something happens in the country you’re on holiday in, your policy should cover you, such as by covering the costs of transport and hotels.
You can claim on the insurance if your bags or money are lost or stolen.
If you are doing something specific, such as skiing or other sports, you can get special travel insurance cover for them.
