Glossary of terms

Car Insurance:  Car insurance protects you against financial loss if you have an accident. It is a contract between you and the insurance company. You agree to pay the premium and the insurance company agrees to pay your losses as defined in your policy.

Commercial Insurance: Commercial Insurance is intended to serve the insurance needs of a commerce rather than the needs of an individual.  The success of a commerce, whether it's a tiny enterprise run out of a basement or a large corporation, is largely dependent on hard work and ingenuity. However, no matter how industrious you are, one disaster can wipe out all your profits and even destroy your commerce. The key to making sure that all the effort and money you have invested in a business doesn't disappear when a disaster strikes is to protect it with the appropriate commercial insurance.

Dental Insurance: Dental insurance is slightly different than most dental plans since you will have to get it through your employer. Dental insurance is not usually offered to individuals, and is instead offered to major companies. If you are offered this insurance through your employer, then you should take it since it will be either free or very cheap, and is definitely worth it if you can get it.

Health Insurance:  Private health insurance is designed to cover the costs of private medical treatment for curable short-term illness or injury (commonly known as acute conditions). Most people buy this type of insurance to gain the reassurance of knowing that treatment is available promptly, if they become ill or are injured.

House Insurance:  House insurance, or homeowners insurance, is an insurance policy that combines insurance on the home, its contents, and, often, the other personal possessions of the homeowner, as well as liability insurance for accidents that may happen at the home.

Liability Insurance:  Liability insurance is only responsible for the other party's losses. Your person and your property are unprotected, but liability insurance protects you from being held responsible for the other party's damages.

Life Insurance:  There are two types of Life Insurance. Protection only, also known as  Term Life Insurance, pays out if you die within a specified period but otherwise pays out nothing.  This is usually the cheapest way to provide financial protection for your family in the event of your dying.  The second type is Investment-type Life Insurance.  This includes Endowment Policies and Whole of Life Policies.  As well as paying out on death, these build up an investment value which can be cashed in during your lifetime.  Many types of pension scheme, such as personal pensions including stakeholder pension schemes, also count as investment type life insurance

Medical Insurance:  Medical Insurance usually entitles you to use different hospitals and you are given a choice of benefit levels. Medical insurance gives you access to private medical care in the event of injury or illness but it does not normally cover injuries or illnesses you had prior to opening a policy. A patient will probably find that they have to pay for hospital accommodation, surgery fees, and drugs or medication upfront and then a refund is granted once their claim has been processed.

Motorcycle Insurance:  Make the most of every factor that stands in your favour when shopping for Motorcycle Insurance. For once, old age is a good thing and riding experience is rewarded. Your bike’s group dictates how much it’ll cost to insure. The categories are supposedly based on value, power, rarity and age, but they often seem illogical so don’t get caught out. Value is also taken into account, so there’s very little point exaggerating how much your bike is worth. The broker will ask where you live because every postcode is risk-rated according to accident and theft statistics. Storing your bike in a brick garage gets you brownie points, as does a Thatcham-approved alarm and/or immobiliser.

Pet Insurance:  The most basic pet insurance cover injuries and accidents. These plans cover incidents such as car accidents, broken bones, burns, allergic reactions or injuries involving your pet ingesting foreign objects or poisons. Such plans are relatively inexpensive.  With most pet insurance policies, you are limited to two claims per year. Basic accident plans don't cover expenses related to illness or disease.  Slightly more expensive are plans that cover both accidents and illness.

Product Liability Insurance:   If you manufacture or supply goods, there’s always the possibility that your product could cause damage to a third party – that could be property or another person. A small defect could open you up to massive claims, so Product Liability Insurance cover is vitally important for product manufacturers.

Professional Indemnity Insurance:  Professional Indemnity Insurance covers you or your firm against claims made as a result of negligent or incorrect professional advice or services. It also covers legal costs associated with the defending of any claim. You need professional indemnity insurance if your firm provides any kind of advice or service that could result in a claim for negligence.

Public Liability Insurance:  The basic concept of public liability insurance is, it will cover your business in the event that it causes injury or death to a third party, it will also cover you in the event that you damage a third parties property. Public liability insurance is an essential cover that all businesses need, cover is relatively cheap and will cover you in the event that you are pursued by a third party.

Term Life Insurance: Term life insurance is generally the least expensive and least complicated type of life insurance. It provides insurance protection at a low cost for a specified period of time, such as 1, 10 or 20 years. If you die within the term period, a death benefit is paid to your beneficiary If you are still living at the end of the term, protection ceases unless the policy is renewed There is no "accumulation" element, or cash value with term insurance.

Travel Insurance:  Travel insurance can protect you from substantial losses that result from a variety of situations, including cancelled trips, lost baggage, medical emergencies, supplier defaults, as well as other unforeseen circumstances.

Whole of Life Insurance:  Whole life is sometimes called permanent insurance. It provides protection, and a cash value, but because it’s a traditional type of life insurance, the premiums stay the same over the entire life of the policy.

Universal Life Insurance:  Universal Life Insurance is a flexible-premium, adjustable benefit life insurance policy that accumulates account value. The flexibility of this policy allows you to change the amount of insurance as your needs for insurance change. Some changes require underwriting approval.

Van Insurance:  The calculation of premiums for van insurance differ quite significantly from those applicable to private car insurance. This is due to the large variety of commercial vehicles on the roads and the increased capacity of these vehicles to cause damage or injury because of their size and weight.

Women's Car Insurance:  Why is Car Insurance cheaper for women? This is because women generally have the same number of accidents as men, but women's car insurance claims tend to cost less, as men's accidents tend to be speed related which causes more damage.

Young Driver car Insurance:  Young drivers are traditionally known as high-risk drivers and have to pay extra premium. This is because based on statistics; young drivers are more likely to have claims.  However, there some car insurance companies that will not charge the exorbitant premiums for Young Drivers Insurance that others charge.