What types of insurances are there?

In fact, you can insure anything, as long as you pay the premium.

The following are the three main types of insurance policy:

  1. Life insurance
    Life insurance policies pay out in the event of the death of either one or more people.
  2. Property and casualty insurance
    Property and casualty insurance covers the risk of damage or loss, which can be damage to or loss of property, but it can also be the financial loss incurred if you are no longer able to work, for example.
  3. Health insurance
    One example of health insurance is medical expenses insurance, which covers possible medical expenses incurred by the policyholder and members of the policyholder?s family.
What risks do you wish to cover? Nowadays, there is a way of insuring against almost any risk and for most risks there are also a variety of different providers. Some large insurance companies offer all types of insurance; others are mainly specialists in a particular type of insurance.

Intermediaries and direct writers
Many insurers provide their products via intermediaries (also known as agents or brokers). Banks often provide insurance as well. In addition, there are insurers who arrange the sale of their products and provide the advice themselves: these are the so-called 'direct writers'. Contacts between direct writers and their customers are mostly via Internet or call centres.

Regular or one-off premium
For an insurance policy you have to pay regular premiums or a one-off premium. The regular or one-off premium is based on the risk that the insurer calculates that it is taking on. In return for paying the premium, you get the security for a given period of time that you are not running or only partly running the risk that is covered by the policy. Insurers do not assume all risks when you take out a policy, which is why each policy is subject to a set of terms and conditions that include a statement of what is and what is not covered. These terms and conditions should play an important role in your ultimate choice of provider.