Insurance is a way to protect yourself and your belongings against loss or accident. If you have insurance then if something happens you can be compensated for the loss. The general aim of insurance is to restore you to the position that you were in before the loss or accident happened e.g if you were burgled or injured yourself.

You get insurance by taking out an insurance policy that you buy either direct from an insurance company or through an intermediary.

Intermediaries are many and varied. They may include insurance brokers, financial advisers, banks, building societies, travel agents, motoring organisations, shops and clubs.

How does it work?

If something does happen and you need monetary compensation, you make a claim on your insurance policy. If you make a claim on your insurance, the compensation payment comes from a fund of money contributed by all the holders of individual insurance policies.

Each policyholder is essentially making a contribution to a common fund. The contribution is known as the premium.

Types of Insurance

• Life and Health
• Travel
• Household- Building and Contents
• Motor insurance

More...

Adding up to a lifetime provide lots of easy to understand and interactive information about all the financial things you'll have to deal with in life. Check out their section on Insurance for more information about the different types of insurance you can get.