Insurance: How much is too much?

Being over and under insured

Several questions arise when you decide which insurances to take out. Research carried out by Scottish Widows showed that one out of five British parents (2.2 million people) were underinsured. This means that in case of an unexpected fatality they would not be able to assume the financial losses and end up in debt. Although you should be precautious, it is not necessary to purchase all available policies. In fact, it is also very easy to be over insured because of lack of information or fear of loss.

Being over and under insured
What is the adequate percentage of potential costs that you should ensure? It depends on your level of income and savings. How well would you be able to cover yourself financially in the event of a calamity? Keep in mind that you can be sued for excessive amounts when you incur third party liability. Furthermore,  it is very difficult to calculate how much to allocate to insurance costs. Third party vehicle protection is compulsory, but such burden is not limited to road accidents. If you are involved in an accident, suing costs and legal fees might break your financial structure. This reasoning might influence you to purchase all available products to avoid  such a scene.
It is common to find people with duplicate insurance. This happens for example, when you acquire rent-a-car insurance, even though you are already covered by your own vehicle’s policy. Another typical situation is buying annual travel insurance when most of the potential losses are already covered by your health insurance plan. Get insurance for risks that you know you won’t be able to afford if they happen.
Assess your financial situation Ask yourself how much you can afford in the long run to insure smaller losses. You should have enough financial backup to ensure anything destroyed, lost or stolen is replaced. It might be better to maximize your savings plan instead of buying more insurance products. You can open an emergency savings fund to back up unexpected non-devastating losses. Furthermore if they never take place you will still have your initial investment and you will have profit resulting from the interest earned. That is what insurance companies do with premiums while they wait for claims to be made.