Why do I need Insurance in Birmingham and how much will it cost?

Most people will question through their lifetime ‘why do I need insurance' and how do I organise it?

Insurance can be provided for virtually anything, however, one important question that needs to be fully examined is does one really need it?

 Having answered that question, the next is where do I get the required insurance cover from?

Firstly, most people will have read about payment protection insurance (PPI) and all the financial re-claims currently taking place due to it being miss-sold. You have probably experienced calls from solicitors questioning you with regard to loans, mortgage or mortgages, credit cards, store card, hire purchase agreements etc., that you have taken on board in recent years, with them all offering you a claim back service at a price, obviously. PPI is designed to cover payments if the person insured cannot afford the payments due to redundancy, critical illness or sickness. However, investigation's identified that as few as 15% of claims were actually met, with a large majority being sold PPI without their knowledge and so had not even known that a claim back, under the correct circumstances was available to them.

The above is an overview of problems associated with the various types of insurance available to one.

Most experts will advise not to bother with home appliances insurance like Televisions, washing machines, dishwashers, cookers, domestic microwave ovens, tumble dryers, vacuum cleaners and other domestic electrical appliances like refrigeration and freezers and suggest you simply put money on one side to cover such an eventuality. Their view is that the amount put on one side will be less than the premium you are expected to pay. But you really do have to be disciplined to put the money away.

Whatever insurance you decide upon, one important factor is to check fully exactly what the package covers. You also need to be totally honest with the answers you supply as insurance companies will look for any reason why a claim should not be upheld.

Most UK people will already have some type of cover, such as content and home insurance, holiday and travel insurance, motorbike insurance, cars or car insurance, which is a requirement by law. Some of the more affluent families will also have business, commercial and family medical insurance. You can also obtain pet insurance for domestic animals such as a dog or cat.

You can also obtain funeral and life insurance cover to provide financial assistance to your family in the event of your demise.

The other important point to remember is that most insurances carry, what is termed as an excess payment in the event of a claim, the higher the excess amount of coverage you are prepared to pay will effectively reduce the insurance premium accordingly, but not by much, so do be careful.

If you do decide to take out insurance cover, make sure that you clearly identify the true value of the item/items you wish to insure, if you under estimate then an insurance company will only provide you with a percentage of the true value of any stolen or damaged article, assuming you have like for like and also accidental damage protection etc. The same applies to holiday insurance, if you already have a medical condition it must be declared, failure to do so will make a claim associated with such a condition null and void. If you over estimate the value thinking, you can make a killing if such a claim arises, you will simply pay a higher premium but in the event of a claim the insurance company will only cover the items true value at best. With regard to building insurance always bear in mind that the value of your property is not the market value but the site clearance and rebuild value if the property is totally destroyed. There are formulas available which provide fairly accurate estimate of rebuild, which takes everything into account including demolition, site clearance and rebuild.

In the event of a claim, the first offer made is sometimes lower than the actual market value, so you will need to put your case and provide reasons for an increase to be considered by the insurance company involved.

Insurance premiums/payments are another area where one needs to be careful before disposing of hard earned finance, especially in the current financial climate that we are all experiencing.

There are numerous companies and insurance brokers offering a service where, following receipt of your insurance requirements will identify the cheapest premium that is available to you. Such organisations will obviously receive payments for such recommendations from the insurance company or companies who benefit from your insurance requirements. Who do you think pays for such payments, you of course, as they are not a charity?

Most insurance companies offer a free phone contact for quotation purposes and if you enquire online will offer you a discount and an immediate quotation in many instances. This allows you to shop around and obtain the best quote possible at no cost to yourself. All insurance companies have web-site facilities, the location and contact number of which can be found on the internet

A recent example being one of our Activ Birmingham members who recently received a renewal insurance premium for his motor home, he was quoted £290.73 for fully comprehensive cover, which included no claims bonus protection, and £22.99 for Legal Expenses cover. He then looked at other companies online, and eventually found a well known company offering the same cover for £205.29, which is a huge saving, he excluded the need for Legal cover as he felt more than capable of arguing his own case in the event of a third party claim which he considered was not his problem.

Whatever you decide, the important thing to remember is to be honest, shop around and make sure that there are no pitfalls in the insurance policy you decide on. They are too many people out there who simply can't be bothered, even though there are vast savings to be made as shown in the above example.

You will also find that insurance companies will alter premium values if you go back to them with a better quote, but be honest as they will probably know exactly what their competitors charge.

Whatever your decision on insure or not to insure, be lucky.