Whether you want to protect your family when you die – or you want comprehensive coverage across a range of life’s potential pitfalls – the first thing to do is read widely and make sure you understand the array of policies available to you, and the costs involved.
Insurance policies come in a variety of shapes and sizes and offer many different features, benefits, and prices. While the choices may seem confusing to begin with, isolating each option for sensible consideration makes the process much simpler. Insurance brokers can assist the process by researching policies across several insurance companies to find the coverage that best suits your needs.
Disability Insurance
This is key insurance to preserve income should you be unable for any reason to continue working in your job. The ramifications of this situation should be considered even though most people don’t like to think about such a scenario befalling them. If you are able to choose a policy that would provide enough coverage to continue your current lifestyle despite no longer working, that would be the gold standard. However, that would also present higher costs. Normally, long-term disability insurance offers around 50% to 60% of your salary.
Life Insurance
This area of insurance offers a wide variety of choices. Its purpose is to protect your family in the event of your death. If your parents, spouse, children, or other loved ones are going to face financial hardship if you die, then life insurance should be high on your list of required insurance policies. When you purchase a policy you should base your choice on the replacement value of your income. Insurance policies pay out a lump sum in the event of your death, securing your family’s ability to continue their lives with less stress, providing them with the means to settle bills and pay off debts regarding such issues as medical accounts or your children’s education.
Income Protection Insurance
This type of policy is designed to protect you and your family from loss of income in the event of prolonged inability to work because of an injury or serious illness. Pay-outs consist of pre-determined monthly payments for a specific period to help cover regular monthly expenses for the duration of your recovery.
Homeowners Insurance
Replacing your home would be hugely expensive in the event of some dramatic destruction. So carrying insurance to assist with this type of trauma is also important. When seeking a suitable policy, look for one that covers the replacement of both structure and contents, and in addition, the cost of living elsewhere while your home is repaired or rebuilt. Also factor in the cost of upgrades and special features. If you choose, you can also cover for the cost of liability for any injuries that may occur on your property.
Health Insurance
The soaring cost of medical care is reason enough to make health insurance a necessity. Even a simple visit to the family doctor can result in a hefty bill. More serious injuries, and time spent in hospital can generate eye-watering expenses. Make sure you investigate a number of medical aids and insurances for good coverage. And always keep in mind that having no coverage could work out at way more expensive than what may seem a pricey premium per month.
Critical Illness Insurance
This operates like an extra add-on to your life insurance or short-term disability insurance. Critical illness insurance pays out a lump sum that can be used to help with household bills and other immediate expenses.
Business Insurance
It is important for business owners to carry workers’ compensation should any employee experience an injury at work. In addition, you need liability coverage in the event of a visitor being injured while on your premises. Further wise insurance decisions would encompass: insuring your business against losses, theft, damage, or closure. Your business has been built up over time – and is of vital financial value to you and your family, so insuring that value makes good sense.
Car Insurance
If you are involved in an accident and someone is injured, or their property is damaged, you may be subject to a lawsuit that could cost you a great deal of money. Accidents happen quickly and the results can be tragic. Update this insurance regularly to remain realistic and fully covered.
Check your policies, check your life
VeriFi is an online tool that provides you with an immediate and up-to-date overview of all your life insurance and investment policies by sourcing information from all the major life insurance companies – and presenting the information in a comprehensive report.
With VeriFi you are able, for no charge, to access information on all your life and investment policies at a glance. You are able to check the types of policies you have, the names of the insurance companies providing the cover, the nature and extent of the insurance cover provided – and other vitally important information such as the details on your policies being correct.
To find out more, please visit: www.verifi.co.za