I have no insurance, where do I start?

[TheXxed]

Hello I am a lone parent with no insurance for anything, what do I need, where do I begin?

I am taking my driving test this month and I understand I need to buy car insurance but that's as far my knowledge extends to.

You need car insurance if you own a car, this can be fully comprehensive (so if you were in an accident that's your fault it would cover your car and any others involved) or third party, fire and theft which wouldn't cover your car in the event of an accident, only the other persons. You would be covered if the car was stolen or if it set on fire.

If you're renting its a good idea to have contents insurance. This would cover all your belongings if you were broken into, or if you had a fire or flood - electricals, furniture, clothing etc. Something like Natwest Essentials is fairly cheap, and has a low excess.

Life insurance would pay a lump sum if you were to die or be diagnosed with a terminal illness, to provide for your children.

You can look on a price comparison site to get an idea of options and how much each would be, and decide how important each type is to you. Only one you must have is car insurance if you own a car, the other 2 are optional but if you can afford them it's definitely worth considering, and think about how you would afford what they insure if you do have and insurance.

Hope that helps!

Motor insurance for new drivers can be very costly. I would contact a brooker who can search various providers for a policy. If you would feel happier talking to soneone in person, Swinton and A-plan have branches on the highstreet.

Do you need home contents insurance? Depending where you live you may have insurance for your belongings or you may not. Look online for policy as many providers and all are quite low cost, £7 a month if a small property I expect.

everyone who owns contents in a house needs insurance for the items. If there is a fire, a flood or a burglary only insurance pays out. The landlord does not if it is rented, and obviously no-one does if the property is owned.

sincerely hope the OP does not own a house if there is no insurance.

also, as you have a dependent you need life insurance and arrangements for what happens if you die before the child is able to live alone. You also need cover if you can't work.

if you are in good health none of this should be expensive.

Thanks for all of your replies, I have been looking up contents insurance online,

My new years resolution is to be ahead of life's problems, I read you can get insurance for your boiler is that separate from contents insurance.

No I am currently renting privately.

You won't need insurance for your boiler if you are renting. You'll just need cover for your contents.

In order of priority

household and car

life

income (possibly - most only pay out for a very short period of time)

Boiler insurance is separate to contents insurance.

Yes it's worth getting separate cover for your boiler to cover breakdown (not usually covered under contents insurance) but check your rent agreement as i'd think it's probably your landlord's responsibility to sort that out.

Also when buying your insurance look into going through a website like quidco....they usually have pretty good cashback deals on purchases like insurance.

Boiler is the landlords responsibility

Again thanks for all of your advice, I think I am going to start with household and life first.

Hopefully pass my test then move onto car insurance.

When I return to work in sept get health and income insurance.

I have set aside 85 pounds a month to pay for this.

be very careful with health insurances in the UK - many are so hedged with conditions that they never pay out!

your immediate concerns are tenants' contents insurance and that life cover. The former is very cheap and can be found on comparison sites. As others note, the boiler isn't your problem. The 'moneysavingexpert' definition of contents is 'everything that would fall if the house was turned upside down' and that also defines the items that are your responsibility in a rental, unless explicitly provided by the landlord.

that said, some tenants' policies provide cover for accidental damage of landlord items, which will protect your deposit. Worth having with a child in the house.

do you mean health insurance, as in private care, or insurance which pays out in case you are unable to work? Check your bank account as many include basic policies.

Thank you special subject. Currently trying to work out how much coverage I would need.

I don't have many high value items.

Health insurance to cover things that would be difficult to get on the NHS. Like speech therapy or physio.

for whom ? I don't think many will cover speech therapy, especially if the issue is already apparent.

I was just using those as an example, no pre existing conditions.

So far we are both healthy.

Hi, sorry to bother you all but could someone please explain what voluntary excess is?

How much of each claim you are liable for . ie if you claimed for £150 you would only get £100 back if your excess was £50. There will be a minimum for the policy but by increasing this your premium would lower.

Thank you