Lisa Dudson: 7 Tips to buying insurance

There are many different types of insurance and it can be quite daunting when selecting which plan is right for you. Here's seven tips to help you through the process of buying insurance.

1.    Choose the right excess: An excess is the amount you agree to pay when you make a claim.  The higher your excess is the lower your premium will be because the insurer is covering less of the cost.

2.    Combine your insurance: If you buy as much insurance as you can from one company your total costs are often lower due to the multi-policy discounts insurers offer.

3.    Know what insurance you already have: Keep all your insurance policies in one place so you know what you have.  You may have some cover through your work and you want to ensure that you don’t double up with the cover you take out.  I’ve seen people with two-three life insurance policies with different companies.  Having the same level of cover with one company will be cheaper.

4.    Read the policy: These are not the easiest documents to read but it’s important that you do read them so you are clear on what cover you have and if there are any exclusions.

5.    Tell the insurer everything: By law you must give all the information requested to the insurer.  You may be penalised for telling them certain things however it’s much better to do this at the beginning than have the claim turned down.  You can always review any exclusions in the future.

6.    Shop around: Use a qualified independent insurance broker or shop around yourself and compare quotes.  Make sure you look closely at the policy wording to ensure you are comparing apples with apples.

7.    Don’t diddy dally: Too many times have I seen people ‘think’ about getting insurance and then something happens which means they can not get insurance or they have significant exclusions on their policies. This especially applies to life, income, disability and health insurance.  The best time to get insurance is when you are healthy and there are no issues.