I am often asked ‘Do I really need insurance?’

My answer is always YES! I have put together a guide to help you understand the importance of insurance…

Why do I need insurance?

If one of your belongings gets broken, stolen or lost you will have to pay for it yourself to be fixed or replaced. However, having insurance on these belongings means you can claim all or some of the money back from the insurance company.

Do you recommend insurance on mobile phones?

Yes, if it is worth it. Most smartphones come with a high price tag so these ones are worth insuring. How many times have you seen friends with smashed screens on their smartphones but they still use it because they can’t afford to have it repair or replaced? 

Buying mobile phone insurance through your network provider can often be pricey. You could insure it on your home insurance but that usually involves high excess (I will explain this soon) so most of the time it isn’t worth doing this way. Your bank sometimes offer perks such as mobile phone insurance at a reasonable price, or even free with some accounts, so it is worth popping into your local branch when you’re next passing and enquiring. 

My favourite place to insure mobile phones and other electronic devices has to be ‘Protect Your Bubble‘. Most phones cost less than £7 a month to insure and that covers you for the following…

• Water damage
• Cracked screens
• Mechanical breakdown
• Unlimited repairs

Protect Your Bubble also do a family gadget insurance where you can insure 4 gadgets such as mobile phone, laptops, tablets, iPads etc from £12.99 a month – Yes it does sound a little pricey but if there are a few mobile phones in your household and you all split the cost it works out very cheap.

Why do I need contents insurance?

Contents insurance covers everything in your home from clothing to large electricals such as your TV, Fridge freezer etc.

If anything were to happen inside your home like a burglary or fire (fingers crossed this doesn’t happen!) then everything you lost in your home would be covered by the contents insurance and your insurance company would pay towards replacing it all, minus the excess which you would have to cover yourself (We will be covering excess further down this post)

Did you know your home insurance could become void if you announce you’re going on holiday on social media?

Do I need building insurance?

This is an insurance to cover the structure of your home. It it was damaged in anyway, such as a wall falling down because of Hurricane Henry then your building insurance policy would cover the cost of the repair work, again minis the excess.

If you rent the property. no, it is your landlords responsibility.

However, if you own the property yourself then yes you will need building insurance. 

Do I need car insurance?

Yes, every MUST have car insurance, this is not optional. 

Car insurance can be pricer than any other insurance out there but it is something you must have incase your car is stolen, in an accident etc.

I have got some of the cheapest rates on the market for car insurance which can be seen here…

Is it worth getting travel insurance?

From personal experience I would say a HUGE YES! I didn’t take travel insurance a number of year ago on our family holiday and I was made redundant. We couldn’t afford to continue to pay for the holiday so we had to cancel it. As I didn’t have travel insurance I lost the money I had already paid towards the holiday – it was a hard lesson to learn at an already difficult time.

Travel insurance will also cover you if your luggage is lost or stolen, you fall ill or have an accident whilst on holiday and a number of other reasons.

I have a travel insurance comparison tool which can save you a fortune, see it here…

What is excess?

Ok, so, excess is how much of the claim you agree to pay before your insurance pay anything towards the claim.

Some insurance policies can be as little as £50 while others can be as expensive as £500. 

The excess is agreed before you take out the insurance policy so make sure you are happy with the excess fee and be realistic – if you were suddenly burgled and lost half the contents of your home, could you afford £500 towards replacing the items?

My insurance company are being awkward, what can I do?

Your insurance company are there to help you when you need them the most – if you need to complain for whatever reason then you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service on 0300 123 9 123 who will give you free, independent advice on resolving disputes with insurance firms.

What happens when I need to make a claim? 

• Contact your insurer as soon as possible. Make sure you give them a call then follow up with a letter or email and keep a copy for yourself as proof incase you need it further down the line. You should then be sent a claim form or instructions telling you how to claim online.
• Gather evidence. This depends on which type of insurance you need to claim for. Get the names and addresses of any witnesses, keep receipts and take photographs.
• You may be asked to provide two or three estimates for the repairs depending on the type of insurance policy you have.