The advice usually given when discussing insurance is to ‘check the small print’. Everyone knows it, so why then when it comes to buying an insurance policy online do so many people forget?
Is it ignorance, or pure laziness? Who knows. But these days more of us than ever have become internet savvy and choose convenience and price over any traditional way of arranging our insurance cover, like picking up the phone. So how many of us are left realizing we have arranged the wrong type of cover when it’s too late? The answer is more than likely very high.
The reason for this is if you buy your insurance online, there is a chance the full policy details or small print may not be available until after you have parted with your cash. It is at this point you realize you do not have all the cover you require.
Yes it is true we all like a bargain, and even when considering home or business insurance, we all have the phrase ‘the cheaper the better’ somewhere in mind. This is not exactly the right approach to insurance though.
A cheap price usually means a basic amount of cover, and some insurance companies will not even take specific requirements into account when it comes to their cheapest policies. They will assume ‘one size fits all’ and only ask a few basic questions online before providing you with a quote.
This approach may be fine for some; however those looking for a certain level of cover may be compromised. Consider this example: suppose you are searching for home insurance or landlord insurance and one of the online ‘statement of fact’ questions you are asked is whether your property is situated next to a cliff or river. Without realizing, you may have answered no because it is part of a list of questions which automatically default to no, or you only get the opportunity to answer it at the end via a single tick box.
The result is you have accepted a policy without reading the full ‘statement of facts’, and if indeed your answer was yes, then you have ended up with an invalid insurance policy.
To avoid this, you should get advice and help from an insurance expert or broker. This way you will always have the opportunity to read the small print before signing anything.
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