General insurance is the term used to describe insurance on your home, home contents, or vehicles.
It is important to have insurance on these major assets since a disaster to your home and contents, or your vehicle, such as a fire or flood, or an accident, could result in a major expense to replace or repair the damage. It is highly unlikely that most people have the cash reserves to pay for these major replacement or repairs. Insurance takes the place of the savings you would otherwise have to spend in these circumstances.
General insurance can be purchased either directly from an insurance company who has their own client service people, or through an insurance broker who represents one or more insurance companies. Personal service is available in local offices, or virtual service is available by telephone or online.
General insurance costs differ from company to company, and from one individual client to another. The differences between insurance companies depends on their size and their claims history, among other things. For example, if they have had to pay out claims for a certain type of car being involved in more accidents, then if you want to insure that type of car the cost might be higher than if you drove something else. Differences between individual clients might depend on your age, where you live, the type of driving you do, the type, style, size, or construction of your home, or other individual factors. Insurance companies cannot discriminate against individual clients by charging you a different price than someone else in the same situation. However, they can charge different prices to categories of clients who have similar characteristics.
Liability insurance refers to insurance that pays damages if you are responsible for losses to someone else. It can be associated with damage due to physical or financial factors. Often liability insurance is a standard component of a home insurance policy to protect against someone being injured while on your property, such as a slip and fall on your stairs, resulting in injury.
Liability insurance is also a part of an automobile insurance policy, to pay for damages caused to someone else’s vehicle or to their person if someone is injured in a car accident.
Businesses and professionals often carry liability insurance if any of the activities of the business could cause financial or physical harm to a client. Doctors, dentists, chiropractors, accountants, lawyers, and financial planners all carry some type of liability insurance in case of error or malpractice.
General insurance agents or brokers must have proper training, qualifications, and be licensed in order to offer insurance advice and products to the public. The general insurance industry is regulated.
We hope you will find this information valuable and will increase your financial confidence. You can always find these articles on our website www.actionfinancialgroup.com.
Karin Rimnyak, Certified Financial Planner®
Investment Advisor
Insurance Advisor, Action Financial Group Ltd.
David Dryburgh, Certified Financial Planner®
Investment Advisor
Insurance Advisor, Action Financial Group Ltd.
Ian Barrie, Certified Financial Planner®
Investment Advisor
Insurance Advisor, Action Financial Group Ltd.
This information has been prepared by Karin Rimnyak who is an investment Advisor for iA Private Wealth. Opinions expressed in this email are those of the Investment Advisor only and do not necessarily reflect those of iA Private Wealth. iA private Wealth Inc. is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. iA Private Wealth is a trademark and business name under which iA Private Wealth Inc. operates.
