You must have known by now what insurance is, and developed a vague idea that it is meant to protect you against financial losses, or provide you with financial compensations in the event of suffering any personal loss or damage which you initially feared might happen someday.
Insurance is generally divided into various categories to cater to the risks and losses that people face in everyday life, and some of the most popular among these are vehicle or auto insurance, property insurance, medical and health insurance, travel insurance, life insurance/assurance and marine insurance among others.
There are several other categories of insurance, and several plans or products under each insurance category, but we shall only examine three that are most common and advisable that you buy for protection.
a. Health and Medical Insurance
As you might have found out, you are not legally mandated to have health or medical insurance, but considering what might happen to your job and family if you fall ill, and the thousands of dollars that hospital bills might cost you, you might like to consider buying health and medical insurance.
Medical or health insurance gives you financial protection you when you fall ill or suffer any personal injury accidents in your workplace and it helps to take care of most or all of your medical bills. Most employers have medical or health insurance for their staff and workers, so the first place to enquire for any health insurance coverage is your employer, even though you are still free to buy additional covers to what your employer has in place for you.
But if it happens that your employer does not have any medical insurance plans in place for workers, then you must buy your own. Medical insurance takes care of all the bills when you or your spouse and children suffer health issues, and it also takes care of the costs of medications and drugs. But health insurance has limits, and it does not cover or only covers parts of medical conditions that require surgeries and specialized drugs. For instance, it does not often cover cosmetic surgeries or dental surgeries among others, and you might have to pay for these from your own pockets even though your health insurance would have covered some other aspects of your treatments.
b. Life Insurance/Assurance
This is usually called life insurance in the U.S. but often called life assurance policy in other countries. Life insurance policy is an insurance cover that you buy to protect your family and dependants from loss and hardships when you happen to pass away. This means that if you die suddenly as the breadwinner of the family, a life insurance policy will ensure that your family are amply compensated in terms of their finances, your estate, and other life dreams they have.
No one prays to die unexpectedly, but if it happens to you while you have a life insurance policy in place, your family and dependants will continue in life to enjoy the financial supports you’d always given as if you were still there with them. Your wife will continue to run your estate, your children will continue in school, and your aged parents will continue to be financially supported because you had simply made plans for them through your life insurance policy cover. It must be noted also that there are various plans or products that serve your life and death needs under life insurance policies.
c. Property Insurance
Under property insurance, there is auto insurance, business insurance, house insurance, and fire insurance among others. Respective insurance covers under this is aimed at protecting you in the case of loss or damage to your property and life. Auto insurance is mandated by law as long as you drive vehicles on the roads, and it protects you from motor accidents that might lead to loss of lives and vehicles. Building insurance protects against fire incidences and natural disasters that might affect your house and lead to loss of residence, and business insurance protects your business from fire and other particular losses.
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