The United Kingdom has the largest insurance industry in Europe and fourth largest in the world. Besides, the UK is the leading insurance exporter to other countries. This means that insurance providers in the UK also sell insurances in other countries.
The industry is huge. In 2017, the insurance industry paid over 72 billion British pounds in taxes. The sector employs over 111,000 direct employees.
Types of Insurance
The UK has a wide variety of insurance and it is unlikely that you will need all of them. Even if you do, you can be sure you won’t afford all of them. However, we will provide you with a list of available insurances so that you can decide which one of them is the most critical for you.
Home Insurance
The home insurance covers repair for your house in case it is destroyed by fire, lightening, floods or storm. It also covers the cost of replacing anything that may be lost in case your house is broken into. However, it does not cover for the normal tear and wear of your house.
Generally, the best idea is to take an insurance cover that will cater for all your items in the house. However, it is possible to split the cost into two: Buildings insurance and Contents Insurance.
Buildings insurance covers the cost of repairing the house in case it is damaged. Contents insurance only covers your personal belongings within the house against theft or damage. Other insurance will also cover items that you take out of the house like phones and laptops.
Car Insurance
The UK has three car insurance covers:
- Third party policy
- Third party policy, fire and theft
- Comprehensive policy.
Third party policy covers other parties outside your car such as pedestrians and passengers involved in an accident. It also covers other properties or cars involved in an accident.
Third party, fire and theft covers all damages included in the third party insurance but also included the cost of replacing your car in case it is stolen or destroyed by fire.
A comprehensive policy covers everything in the other policies and also the cost of repairing or replacing your car.
Travel Insurance
Travel Insurance is available to the UK residents when taking a trip to Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. The travel insurance covers you against cancellation of your trip or curtailment. In case you cancel your trip due to unavoidable circumstances, you can claim out of pocket expenses. In such a case, you need to provide all the receipts when making a claim.
The cover also protects you from travel delay that is caused by flight reschedules and medical expenses. The insurance also protects you against lost or damaged items, personal injury and death.
Pet Insurance
Pets are part of our families and we get upset when they get an injury or sick. Vet bills are usually high, hence, getting a pet insurance can help you meet vet fees. There are four insurance covers for pets. They are:
- Accident only. It covers vet bills for a pet in case of an injury. It is the cheapest policy.
- Per condition. This cover also known as “maximum benefit” sets aside a fixed amount that is used to treat an injury or sickness.
- Lifetime. This is the most expensive cover that protects your pet within the entire period of its life.
- Time Limited. This kind of policy is available for a certain period of time to cover illnesses and accidents. It usually last 12 months.
Some pet insurance policies are standard and cover vet medical fees, kennel and cattery fees, liability cover and advertising costs and rewards.
Health and Life Insurance
If you are a resident in the UK, you may consider taking both life and health insurance. It will help to make life easier so that you do not have to pay high hospital bills. Health insurance only covers when you have a hospital in the event of sickness or injury.
If you wish to cover those who depend on you, you can take a life insurance so that your family can be provided for in the event of your death. Your family receives compensation in lump sum or as regular payments.
Life insurance is of two types.
- Term life insurance policy. This policy runs for the agreed period which can be 5 or 10 years. A lump sum is paid at the end of the period.
- Whole of life policy. This policy requires the insured or pay premiums until when he dies. Compensation is done after the death of the insured.