What is insurance? A guide to help you understand about insurance. By Mencap and Unique Insurance Services. Easy read

Transcription

1 What is insurance? A guide to help you understand about insurance By Mencap and Unique Insurance Services Easy read

2 What is insurance? Insurance is a way of guarding against damage or loss of something you own. You pay an amount of money called an insurance premium which buys you insurance. The easiest way to think about insurance is that it is money you pay out in case anything happens. You pay money to an insurance company. If you have to make a claim because the thing you have insured is damaged or stolen your insurance will help you by giving you all or some of the money you need. 2

3 Why should I have insurance? You have to decide if it is better to have insurance than run the risk of something going wrong and how expensive it would be. For example, you will probably always choose to have health insurance if you go on holiday abroad just in case you get sick or injured. This is because it could cost you a huge amount of money to get medical help if you got really sick or were injured in another country. Sometimes you must have insurance. This is because the law says you must. You can read more about the sort of insurance you must have on page 6. 3

4 How insurance works You pay the insurance company a set amount of money. You might pay this as an amount each month. For example, you pay an insurance company money each month to insure your car. If you make a claim, the insurance company will find out how much the repairs will cost find out how much your car is worth decide how much money they will pay towards the costs of getting the car fixed. You will have to pay a part of the cost of the repairs. This is called the excess. There will be information about the excess in your policy schedule. 4

5 What you can insure Some of the things you can choose to insure include mobile phone pets TV and DVD cost of a holiday. 5

6 More about what you can insure Some of the things that it is a good idea to have insurance for healthcare when you are on holiday in another country. It is very important you tell your insurance company if you have an illness. Or else you may have to pay for any healthcare you need for that illness while you are away. Ask your doctor or hospital consultant if you are not sure about what to tell your insurance company about your health. the contents of your home like your clothes, TV and other things you own. Things that you must have insurance for car motorbike. 6

7 Things to think about When you buy something new like a microwave, the shop assistant may ask you if you want to insure it. You would pay an extra amount of money on top of what the microwave costs. It is a good idea to ask yourself these questions before you make up your mind 1. Is there already a warranty from the manufacturer? This means the company that made the microwave promise (guarantee) that it will not go wrong for a certain period of time. If it does they will fix or replace it. 2. If the microwave went wrong would you have enough money to pay for it to be fixed or buy a new one? 3. Can you afford to pay the extra amount for the insurance? 4. How much is the insurance excess? This is the amount of money that you have to pay if you make a claim on the insurance. 7

8 What to look for in an insurance policy The insurance policy is the name for the document that tells you about the insurance you are buying. It is a legal document that is often quite long and hard to understand. As well as telling you what you are insured against, the insurance policy will tell you what is not insured. It is often the information about what is not insured that is the most important to check. For example, if you have insured your bicycle you will probably find that it is not insured if you forget to lock it up. 8

9 Other things to look for Is the amount of insurance enough? How much do you pay and how often? How much is the insurance excess? What does the insurance cover? What does the insurance not cover? 9

10 Choosing who to buy your insurance from There are a lot of insurance companies. Some companies will have insurance policies for lots of different things. Some just offer 1 type of insurance like medical insurance. The cost of insurance, how much you are insured for and the rules of the insurance policy will be different from each company. Remember, the cheapest insurance may not be the best as it may not cover what you need. You must always read through the insurance policy carefully before you decide which insurance you are going to buy. You must always be truthful and honest when you make a claim. 10

11 Where to get more information or help 1. You can speak to Unique Insurance Services. Phone them on them at 2. Or you can speak to the company you want to take out insurance with. 3. Ask your doctor or hospital consultant if you have any questions about your health if you want to get insurance to travel to another country. It is very important you tell your insurance company about any illness you already have. Or else you may have to pay for any healthcare you need for that illness while you are away. Thanks to Photosymbols for the pictures. 11