Key practical insights from Insurance Explained” with Liberty Insurance

Key practical insights from Insurance Explained” with Liberty Insurance

What springs to mind when you think of “insurance”? For me, it’s something that I have to have but don’t want to ever have to use. Lots of people find it full of jargon, tricky nuance and a stressful experience if they have to claim. For all those reasons, Liberty Insurance, in association with Irish Times Training partnered to create the “Insurance Explained” series and they kindly invited me to interview four super people with the questions that are often on everybody’s mind.

It’s a series of short videos with practical information about insurance. Here are the key points:

First, I spoke to Anne Marie Collins about how exactly to shop around, how to navigate the jargon and the pitfalls people often fall into. She pointed out that:

-  there are insurance product supermarkets out there, brokers who can help you make the right decision and customer service staff who can help you make the right decision about a policy.

- lots of jargon busters available on their own site or the CCPC.

- It’s important to update your insurer with accurate information as maybe your circumstances (of those of what you’re insuring) may have changed

- Innovation in the insurer space needs to be grounded in customer feedback and “modularity” is a key trend to watch in the future.

Next, I asked Eoin Lennon all about what’s involved in making a claim.

His advice is:

- Lean on the customer service agent you’re talking to as they know you’re likely to be emotional, panicked, shocked or scared. It’s up to them to tell you about the ins and outs of your policy.

- It’s definitely worthwhile asking your insurer about what you might be entitled to before you might ever need to make a claim. For example, can you get a courtesy car or alternative accommodation if there is a big issue?

- Check out the benefits of your policy and don’t confuse these with claims. You might be able to avail of household benefits or other specific helpful offers that are nowhere near a claim. In fact, you could be missing out on what you’re paying for by not having clarity between these two.

Afterwards, I had a chat with Stuart Trotter about what underpins an insurance policy.

He shared that:

- There is a difference between “need to have” and “want to have”. It’s important to know the difference between the two.

- A premium is calculated based on the “severity and frequency” of risks. Some of those are beyond your control i.e. COVID or medical inflation while others are within your influence (i.e. if you park your driving history)

- In December 2012, European Commission rules on gender discrimination were put in place, meaning insurance rates in the EU must be the same for men and women.

Finally, I interviewed Leona Dooley about house and contents insurance. She recommends that:

- You distinguish between the two as thinking about what would fall out of a house if it was picked up and turned upside down. That’s what “contents” insurance covers.

- You check the value of your house insurance as inflation could mean you’re under-insured

- You specify if you want certain items insured in your contents insurance i.e. an engagement ring or a bike

- You don’t assume that somebody else is insured to drive your car and you check it out before they get behind the wheel

- You talk to your insurer about a clean history if you’re moving to Ireland from abroad or you’ve been insurance on another party’s insurance (i.e. a parent)

- You ask how to protect your no-claims bonus in the event of a claim

Thank you so much to Roseann Regan who has been wonderful as well as Camille and all the team at Irish Times Training.

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