How Personal Insurance Works

Insurance can be confusing for a lot of people. Let’s break down personal insurance into understandable terms.

Insurance is meant to help pay for damage or losses you sustain or accidentally cause to others. Without it, such incidents could lead to significant financial stress.

What Is Personal Insurance?

Personal insurance, simply put, can be any insurance purchased by an individual or family. Examples include:

• Health Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Car Insurance
• Home Insurance
• Pet Insurance

What’s the Difference Between an Insurance Company and a Broker?

An insurance company (or carrier) is an organization that writes policies and pays for submitted claims.

An insurance broker is someone who sells insurance policies. Some brokers are independent, meaning they can show you options from multiple insurance companies. Other brokers, usually called captive agents, work directly for an insurance company and only sell its products.

How Does Insurance Work?

Here’s a visual breakdown of how the insurance process generally works from start to finish:

Finding Insurance

1. Consider your insurance needs. You may be looking for home insurance, car insurance or other types of coverage.
2. Consult with an insurance broker or look online to research available insurance options. Read thoroughly to know what a policy includes and excludes. Coverage specifics can vary by insurance company, so it can be good to shop around.
3. Decide on a policy or policies (e.g., both home and auto insurance). You may get a discount for buying multiple policies from the same insurance company, but this isn’t required. An insurance broker can walk you through this step by step.

Using Insurance

1. If you are involved in a damage-causing incident (e.g., car accident), review your policy to see how it may be covered by insurance.
2. Document damages by taking photos and videos. Different scenarios may require different information, such as appliance brands and prices after a home fire.
3. Contact your broker or insurance company to start the claims process. Once reviewed and approved, you should receive a payout in accordance with policy terms.

Send Us Your Follow-up Questions

We’re here to help answer any questions you may have regarding personal insurance. We can recommend coverage and help review policy options.

Contact us today to get started, with no obligations.