If you have ever looked at an insurance policy, you have seen that it is loaded with industry’s specific jargon and reading it can be somehow confusing. It shows you, of course, what is covered and what is excluded, but it also has terms used only by lawyers, and often you have to use a dictionary, and maybe an insurance dictionary, to see what every word means. Let’s step away from this jargon, and see what is it all about car, commercial and life insurance. I don’t want to neglect other types of policies, but I think that these are the most common insurance policies used, so let’s take a look and see what each means and what is covered and what is excluded in each case.

In law and in economics, the general insurance is a risk management method, used to cover someone or a company against the risk of a loss. The term represents the transfer of the risk of a loss from one party of a contract to another. Risk management has evolved lately and currently it is a real field of study and practice, with a lot of written books in domain and a lot of practitioners.

The lack of information when looking for an auto insurance is a very common problem. If you are looking for this kind of insurance I recommend you to take some time to inform yourself before purchasing a policy, and this will clear up things about this kind of insurance.

Every car driver needs an auto insurance, and in fact, in most of countries it is mandatory. When you make car insurance, you have to buy a policy. This policy is represented by a damage coverage which is calculated according to many factors, like the type of the car you want the policy for as well as the type of insurance you would like to purchase.

The auto policies are packages of different insurance coverage. Anyway, the auto insurance it pretty simple, but it might cause a lot of confusion for many people and even for drivers.

It is very important to know the specific law requirements in the state you live in, and the laws differ from state to state. You shouldn’t limit yourself to buy the minimum policy required because it is not enough in most of the cases for covering the damages. You should purchase a customized car insurance, according to all the factors insurance companies take into consideration, and the most important aspect is to make you feel financially covered in case of an accident.

The General Insurance

In the auto insurance industry there are three main types of policies: liability coverage policy, comprehensive coverage and personal injury protection. The comprehensive auto insurance will cover all the expenses which are not related to accidents, like, for example, related to theft, natural disasters (fire, water damages). PIP (personal injury protection) covers medical expenses and wages or other damages related to the accident. This insurance is known as the “no-fault” policy because it will be paid no matter the fault was, or who was guilty. Insurance premium will not increase due to a personal injury protection claim, and this is another reason to call it “no-fault” policy. In most of the states, the vehicle liability policy is mandatory, and this policy can cover bodily injury and property damages. In almost all states, this minimum level of coverage is required, but it might not be enough, depending on the accidents. Some policies include the medical bills and the lost wages too, and if you are driving only with the minimum liability policy, you might want to take a look again and reconsider your liability insurance contract, to cover the bodily injuries too. It is always best to have coverage for all the possible damages that might happen, it’s a safety measure for car drivers.

Briefly, the commercial general liability insurance, or CGL covers your business and it is often used to protect you against injuries or property damages. The most common examples of CGL coverage situations are those in which an employee damages a client’s property or when a customer is injured at your place of business. Companies are vulnerable to any lawsuits if they don’t have a CGL policy, and there are many supplementary costs, which can easily be avoided with these policies. For business owners, this kind of policy is very important, and it tends to be the most used type of policy in business world. GCL covers four main types of situations, and they are included in the standard policy contract too: Personal Injury Liability, Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability, Medical Payments, and Tenants’ Legal Liability. If anything associated with your company, like the products or the services your offer, your work or your employees cause physical injury to someone else, you can be responsible for these damages in front of the law, and most of the times, the responsible one has to pay. If you have a Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability policy, the costs for the damages produces will be covered by the insurance policy. The Personal Injury Liability is used to protect you if you are accused of slander or of libel, and the Medical Payments policy will cover small medical expenses caused by an accident related to your company, or which was a result of your company’s activity.

If your company’s activity is set in a place which is not your property and you are legally responsible for any damages caused by fire for example, will be covered by the Tenants’ Legal Liability policy. The covered items are only the ones belonging to the rented premises, and not those in your property. Those are subject of another policy, and not a commercial one.

For life insurance, the things are a little bit different. The main idea of covering a special event which could cause you damages is common, but there are some differences in the typology aspect and also the way the money you pay are managed by the insurance company. This life insurance policy will oblige the insurer to pay a sum of money, if insured person’s death or other critical illness occurs. The policy owner must pay an amount of money at regular intervals or in lump sums.

The life insurance can be permanent or temporary, and there are other four subclasses for this kind of policy: universal, whole life, term or endowment life insurance.

The temporary policy will cover the insured person for a specified time and for a premium. This policy does not accumulate value, and this is the type of policy which is closes to the “pure” insurance, because it covers only in the event of death and nothing else. The policy holder is insured for just the term specified in the contract. If the person dies before that specified term, the beneficiary will receive a payout, but if the insured person does not die in that term, he will get nothing from the insurance company. The most important aspects to be considered in this type of policy are the face amount, length of coverage and the premium to be paid. I think it’s clear that suicide is excluded from the covered events occurring. The permanent life insurance policy will be available until it goes mature and it can only be cancelled if the insured person doesn’t pay his premiums. The money in someone’s account at the insurance company, paid for this kind of life insurance, can be accessed by the insured person, and this is very important, because certain amounts of money can be borrowed, withdrawn or the policy can be surrendered.

The General Insurance

It is very important to think in which domains of your life you need insurance policies, and if you analyze the problems a little bit, you will see that there are many aspects which need to be covered, because there always are imminent risks, in a lot of activity fields, and even if you are careful with driving there can always be another driver who can crash your car, and even if you take care of your health, there can always happen accidents at the workplace. I think it’s obvious why you should have a business insurance policy, and you should know that no matter how good entrepreneur you are, the unexpected can happen and all can be ruined up.