Insurance Guides & Resources
Plain-English explanations of life, health, auto and home insurance — built for individuals and families who want to right-size cover without an agent's sales pitch. Educational only, not insurance advice.
Human Life Value vs Income Replacement: Which Method is Right?
HLV vs the 10x rule and DIME method — pros, cons, worked example, when each makes sense, and common mistakes to avoid when sizing life cover.
Read Guide →Auto Insurance Coverage Explained: Third-Party vs Comprehensive
Third-party vs comprehensive, IDV, zero-dep and other add-ons, no-claim bonus, deductibles, and when to claim vs pay out of pocket.
Read Guide →Renters Insurance Explained: Why Tenants Need a Policy in 2026
Personal property, liability, loss of use, ACV vs RCV, sub-limits for jewellery and electronics, and how to size cover in minutes.
Read Guide →Critical Illness Cover Explained: What it Pays, What it Does Not
Conditions covered, lump-sum payouts, survival periods, exclusions, and the gap critical illness fills between health and life insurance.
Read Guide →Travel Insurance Explained: What to Actually Buy in 2026
Single-trip vs annual, medical and evacuation cover, trip cancellation and CFAR, Schengen requirements, pre-existing waivers and credit-card gaps.
Read Guide →Why InsureKit guides matter
Insurance is one of the few products people buy hoping never to use. That single fact creates an asymmetry: buyers cannot easily judge value at the point of sale, only at the point of claim — by which time the policy is already chosen. These guides exist to close that gap, explaining how each cover actually works, what the common exclusions do to a claim, and the order of magnitude of sums insured that match real-world risks.
How to read insurance documents
- Schedule first, wording second. The "policy schedule" lists what you specifically bought — sums insured, deductibles, named insureds, riders. The "policy wording" is the standard contract terms. Always confirm your schedule matches what you asked for.
- Read the exclusions before the inclusions. Marketing pages list what is covered; the exclusions section in the wording lists what is not. The exclusions are what actually decide most claims.
- Note the "conditions precedent". Most policies require notification within a window (24–72 hours for theft, 30 days for many medical claims). Miss the window, lose the claim.
- Check the limits and sub-limits. A £500,000 home contents policy may have a £2,500 sub-limit on jewellery. Sub-limits cap individual categories regardless of the headline number.
- Understand "indemnity" vs "new for old". Indemnity policies pay depreciated value; new-for-old pays replacement cost. The premium difference is small; the payout difference is huge.
Which cover for which risk
- Term life insurance — replaces income on death. Decreasing-term is cheapest and tracks a mortgage; level-term is more flexible.
- Critical illness cover — lump sum on diagnosis of named conditions. Pairs with income protection, not a replacement for it.
- Income protection — monthly benefit if you cannot work due to illness or injury. The single most-overlooked cover for working-age adults with dependants.
- Home insurance — buildings (rebuild cost) and contents (replacement cost). Most homeowners are underinsured against current rebuild costs.
- Renters / tenants insurance — contents and liability. Highest dollar-for-dollar value of any insurance product for renters.
- Auto / motor insurance — third-party is the legal minimum; comprehensive is almost always worth the small extra premium.
- Travel insurance — medical evacuation is the headline value; trip cancellation is secondary.
- Pet insurance — accident & illness tier is the only one that mathematically makes sense for most owners.
Sums insured — back-of-envelope starting points
Life cover: 10× annual gross income, or enough to clear the mortgage plus 5 years of household expenses, whichever is higher. Critical illness: 12–24 months of household after-tax income. Income protection: 50–60% of gross income, with the longest deferred period your emergency fund supports (longer defer = cheaper premium). Home contents: actually walk through and total replacement value — most owners undershoot by 30–50%.