Accident Sickness & Unemployment ( ASU )

Accident, Sickness & Unemployment insurance (ASU), is also known as mortgage payment protection. It is designed to provide you with an income to meet your outgoings in case of:

• Absence from work due to illness
• Absence from work due to an accident
• Redundancy

With an accident, sickness & unemployment policy you pay a monthly premium for the level of cover you need, and if you lose your job or can't work, you will receive that amount of money each month to cover your costs and spend as you wish. Policies usually pay out for up to a year or until you return to work, whichever happens first.

You can choose the amount of benefit you would like to receive, although there are some limits on the maximum amount. The premium will be a percentage of the amount of monthly benefit you would like to receive. Benefits are usually payable for a maximum of 12 months.

Some policies will also allow you to choose whether you want to receive benefits for accident & sickness only, unemployment only or all three.

Pet Insurance

Pet insurance is health insurance for pets and often includes liability cover which safeguards you if your pet attacks someone or causes a road accident.

A simple accident or illness can lead to veterinary bills of hundreds of pounds, and a serious condition could run into thousands. Without insurance in place, you may be faced with a terrible choice - how can you afford to pay for the treatment?

Pet insurance will cover the bulk of vet fees for illnesses and accidents, and usually for a very reasonable monthly fee, so taking the financial worry out of what can be a difficult time.

Many pet owners agree that pet insurance provides peace of mind. It is important to be aware that cheaper policies may offer limited protection, so seek advice to ensure you have adequate cover for your pet.

Also bear in mind that pet policies will not pay out for pre-existing conditions or those that occur within the first few days of cover. Also not covered are the (significant) costs of routine care, such as vaccinations, boosters and worming.

Marine and Boat Insurance

With an ever increasing number of marine craft taking to our rivers, lakes and seas, such as speedboats, sailboats, yachts, jet-skis (and gin palaces!) the risk of accidents, collisions and injury becomes greater, so it is vital that you have insurance in place.

Marine Insurance will cover you in the event that someone makes a claim against you, or if you are a victim of theft, you suffer accidental damage, a personal accident or personal injury, or death to you and the people on board your boat or craft.

All classes of marine craft should be insured, including:

• Dinghy Insurance
• Yacht Insurance
• Motor Boat Insurance
• Speed Boat Insurance
• Inland Waterway Craft
• Fishing Boats
• RIB/Inflatable Insurance
• Jet Ski Insurance
• Narrow Boat Insurance
• Laser Insurance
• Windsurfing Insurance
• Rowing Boat Insurance

Everyone's needs are different, but it is vital to understand the level of cover you need before deciding on your policy.

Insurance for Commercial Premises and Shops

There is a wide range of insurance cover available to shops and commercial premises of all sizes, with standard and enhanced cover options.

There is a lot to think about in this area. Cover for business interruption, goods in transit, stock protection, contents and fittings, cash cover, and all aspects of insurance to suit your individual shop or commercial  requirements.

You will also need protection against fire, flood, theft and other unforeseen eventualities which could affect your ability to trade.

Many insurance policies offer both standard and enhanced cover options. The standard policy provides cover for various risks including public and employers' liability, stock cover and tenants improvements.

Enhanced options allow you the choice to increase the levels of public liability, business interruption, goods in transit cover and many others, allowing the policy to be tailored to suit your individual shop requirements.

Household Insurance

There are two types of household insurance - buildings and contents. They are separate entities and you can either search for two individual policies, or buy them as a joint policy from one source, which is a competitive way of buying nowadays, moreover if you are unfortunate enough to end up in a situation where one incident affects both the building and its contents, such as a fire, there will be no issues as to who is paying for what.

Buildings insurance

This covers the actual structure of your home. It will always include the main building and can be extended to cover sheds, the garage, fences, swimming pool etc. Buildings insurance is only a consideration if you own the property. If you own a flat you will still be responsible for buildings cover, usually as determined by the ground rent and buildings agreement, which usually means that the liability to cover is apportioned between properties. This is sometimes covered under the Service Charge.

Caravan & Campervan Insurance

Insurance for UK based touring caravans, static caravans, folding campers, trailer tents, motor homes, camper vans, camping vans, RVs, and motor caravans

Whether you use your caravan every weekend or infrequently, it is wise to secure your peace of mind by taking out an appropriate insurance policy to protect your investment.

There are plenty of policies designed for this specialised area of insurance, and it is not difficult to find coverage that suits your needs at a competitive price.

You may be the adventurous type with a touring caravan travelling through the UK and European countryside, or perhaps you are more at home in a static caravan on a site with all the convenience and facilities that good caravan parks offer.

Either way it is vitally important that you make sure that you have adequate insurance coverage to protect you against a diversity of potential risks which can be associated with caravan and campervan ownership.

Holiday and Travel Insurance Cover

We all love our holidays, but what if you fall ill or have an accident; you could have money or luggage stolen; your holiday might be cancelled or cut short through injury or illness; you might have a road accident or have your car stolen. All these risks and more can be covered by a holiday insurance policy.

Although taking out travel insurance should be one of the first things on the list when travelling abroad, it is often not even considered for trips made within the UK. On the face of it, this seems fairly obvious. After all, if you have an accident on a domestic holiday there is no chance of having to re-mortgage your house in order to pay for the medical expenses.

Policy Checklist

Make sure that the insurance you take out matches your need. Your policy should include:

Motor Insurance

You must have motor insurance coverage before you can drive your vehicle in a public place. Motor insurance is here to protect you, your vehicle and other motorists against liability in the event of any accident.

It provides financial compensation to cover any injuries caused to people or their property.

There are three main categories of motor insurance:

Third party only

This cover is the minimum legal requirement and ensures that compensation is available in respect of injury to other people (including your passengers) or damage to other peoples' property resulting from an accident caused by you. It doesn't cover any costs incurred by you as the result of an accident.

Third party fire and theft

This provides the same cover as third party only and also insures you should your vehicle be damaged by fire or stolen.

Comprehensive

This provides the same cover as third party fire and theft and also covers you should your vehicle be damaged in an accident. Many additions to this level of cover are available from insurance companies including:

GENERAL INSURANCE

This is an area of financial planning that is often overlooked. Traditionally, we have our buildings and contents insurance with our mortgage lenders, which may be uncompetitive in a very competitive marketplace. It may also be the case that a property may be underinsured, due to decoration, extension or the increase in house prices.

In addition to home insurance, we can also provide access to cover for accident, sickness and unemployment.

General insurance is important for your peace of mind. It enables you to minimise the effects of unexpected and often unwelcome future events, and helps you to organise your personal and business life with greater confidence.

This cover will pay out if death occurs, and provides an income per year for the term remaining on the policy. For example, for a 20 year term, where the claim occurred after five years, there would be 15 annual payments made in total.

The payments are not normally subject to income tax but may impact some state benefits.

The plan will have no cash in value at any time and will cease at the end of the term. If premiums are not maintained, then cover will lapse.