What Types of Insurance Coverage Do I Really Need?

What Types of Insurance Coverage do I Really Need?
 

Insurance comes in many different forms such as homeowner’s insurance, automobile insurance, renter’s insurance, health insurance, life insurance, travel insurance, and more.  For each type of coverage, insurance companies use innovative marketing strategies not only as a means of education to the public, but also a way of promoting the purchase of a policy that a person may or may not need.

What Types of Insurance Coverage do I Really Need?
 

Insurance comes in many different forms such as homeowner’s insurance, automobile insurance, renter’s insurance, health insurance, life insurance, travel insurance, and more.  For each type of coverage, insurance companies use innovative marketing strategies not only as a means of education to the public, but also a way of promoting the purchase of a policy that a person may or may not need.

Depending on the type of insurance, some policies are mandated by law while other policies are chosen for added protection.  For instance, every state requires drivers to maintain at minimum, liability car insurance whereas life insurance would be at the person’s discretion.  With so many different types of insurance policies and different components associated with each, sometimes trying to distinguish the actual type and amount of coverage needed versus coverage wanted can be a little complicated.  To clarify things, we have provided helpful information.

Remember, if you find a different type of policy you want to purchase later on, you could.  However, the priority would be to choose coverage for what you need or should have, and then go from there.  Then, by spending time to compare policies from different insurers, you would be able to get the right type and amount of protection but without spending a fortune.

Health Insurance

Of all types of coverage available, health insurance is without doubt the most important.  If you had no insurance coverage and were to become ill, a single trip to the hospital could end up costing you thousands of dollars.  Then, if you had to undergo surgery or go through long-term treatment, the cost would be astronomical.  To purchase the right health insurance policy, it would be to your advantage to work with a reputable insurer so all options could be reviewed based on your individual needs.

Automobile Insurance

As mentioned, to drive a vehicle in the United States, at minimum liability insurance coverage is required by law.  Typically, this type of coverage is used for older model cars whereas for newer vehicles, full coverage, also called comprehensive insurance is the preferred choice.  To determine the right type and amount of coverage, the insurer would look at the year, make, and model of your vehicle, the vehicle’s value, special features of the vehicle, driving record, available discounts, and even your credit score.

Homeowner’s Insurance

Another type of insurance you need and coverage mandated by law is homeowner’s insurance.  In fact, to be approved for a mortgage loan, this type of insurance would be required.  The primary purpose of homeowner’s insurance is to protect the lender.  After all, the money being lent is a huge investment and the bank or mortgage company simply wants to make sure if the loan were defaulted on, they would not be out a significant amount of money.

Renter’s Insurance

While renter’s insurance is not mandated by law, as in the case of homeowner’s insurance, it is still an incredible valuable type of protection.  Whether renting a single family home, condominium, apartment, duplex, triplex, etc, renter’s insurance is designed to provide protection over your personal belongings.  The actual structure would be the responsibility of the owner while the contents of the structure could be protected with a renter’s insurance policy.  The great thing about insurance of this type is that a good policy would only cost around $30 a month.

Life Insurance

Finally, if you can fit the cost of a life insurance premium into your budget, it would be a policy worth having.  With this, if you were to die, the dollar amount of the policy would go to your chosen beneficiaries.  Since there are many different factors involved to determine the appropriate amount of life insurance to buy, it would be important to talk to a qualified insurer for recommendations.