The first insurance contract signed by parties was in Genoa in 1347 where individuals as well as groups opted for insurance and specified the amount of risk they were willing to take.

Guild coverage is said to have been in existence during the dark and middle ages when apprentices worked under their masters for little or no pay. Once they became masters, they paid a fixed amount to the guild and trained their own workers. This payment provided a kind of insurance cover and masters if they were robbed or suffered loss due to theft or fire would be supported until they were back on their feet. The same cover applied to deaths too with the families of the masters being take care of and supported.

The concept of underwriting emerged in 1600 in the UK in some London coffeehouses. These cafes worked as unofficial stock exchange where merchants, ship owners and others in need of insurance would meet. The most popular meeting place of those times was that of Edward Lloyd, who was later known as Lloyd’s of London. Voyages were secured by venture capitalists, with people writing their name and the amount they wish to take responsibility for on the paper. Thus a trader’s goods were insured for by different risk takers.

Untoward incidents such as fires and epidemics resulted in underwriters forming companies that offered fire insurance. The need of proper insurance was realized after the great fire of London in 1666. Blaise Pascal, a Frenchman and Pierre de Fermat found a way to express probabilities and understand magnitude of risk. Pascal’s triangle helped to make the first actuary tables which are even today used to calculate insurance rates.

Underwriting and insurance became kind of systematic and also affordable to all the parties around this time. The year 1693 is quite important as the first mortality table was created with the help of Pascal’s triangle and very soon life insurance too was offered by companies.

Insurance business picked up in the mid-1700 and the first American insurance company was founded in the British colony of Charleston, SC. The first fire insurance companies were formed in New York and Philadelphia.

Most of the injuries and deaths are the direct result of incompetence, but even the most careful worker can be a victim. Even your customers and members of the public may be injured whilst visiting a site.

If you own a small building business or you employ building workers on large scale, you will need to have the right kind of builder’s insurance in place. The kind of cover you require will depend on the kind of business you are in. If you are a self-employed builder operating as a sole trader without any employees, then you will need to have public liability insurance. If you have employees, then you will also need employer’s insurance as required by law. It is also important to ensure that you have adequate levels of insurance cover. Typical public liability cover is for £2 million and employer’s liability is £10 million, though other figures might apply depending on the nature of your business.

Good business insurance will cover you for all legal costs and any awards that the courts make against you. Where compensation is paid for an injury, the NHS and ambulance service are likely to also sue you for the costs of any ambulances and hospital care, so you should ensure that this is included in the cover.

Theft is a frequent occurrence at building sites and tools and building materials are the major targets. It is important that your builder’s insurance covers you for such losses too.

If this were take place then it could cripple the company not just because of the legal costs but also with regards to the damage that a loss of reputation could cause.

However, one way of mitigating the crippling costs of being sued is by taking out professional indemnity (PI) insurance. This protects businesses financially in the event of being sued for a professional error, omissions or even professional negligence.

So what firms should take out professional indemnity insurance?

For some professions such as solicitors, financial advisers, accountants, mortgage advisors, architects and insurance brokers it is actually a regulatory requirement to have professional indemnity insurance.

However, that doesn’t mean that it is not useful for other companies to have professional indemnity insurance. PI is designed to cover people who sell their knowledge or skills. Therefore, it is a useful product for a number of businesses including estate agents, PR firms and consultants.

By taking out professional indemnity insurance it means that while a business strives to do its best if the worst was to happen and you are sued by your client the costs of legal fees and compensation are covered. Because, if you were to be sued could you absorb the costs in the business? With professional indemnity insurance you don’t have to worry as you will be covered should the worst happen.

What’s more by having professional indemnity insurance in place it proves to your clients that you are trustworthy. It can also help secure new clients who may insist that you have indemnity insurance in place before starting to do business with you.

If you want professional indemnity insurance then go to Markel Direct Insurance to find the best deal for you.

Students often share accommodation, sometimes on a large scale in halls of residence, or, in a shared house. The flow of people passing through their everyday lives is endless. Loss, accidental damage and theft are commonplace so contents insurance tailored for students is vital.

The laptop and the mobile phone are our portholes to the world. They organise our lives and in recent years we have become nearly dependent on our access to them. Existing without a laptop or a mobile is a bleak prospect for the modern student. The best Student Insurance policies provide a 24 hour mobile phone and laptop replacement service covering theft, loss and accidental damage.

Some student accommodation providers may offer some form of cover but it often won’t be too comprehensive. If you want to protect against theft or loss you really need your own tailored package.

Other benefits can include bicycle cover – a bicycle being a necessity in cities like Cambridge and Oxford. With transport costs soaring and inner city life becoming more and more averse to car usage, the bike is many a student’s preferred mode of transport.

Being a student often comes with a newfound sense of freedom and it would be a shame for the experience to be tarnished by loss, theft or damage to your goods.

Towergate offers specialised business insurance policies for certain industries, such as marine trades, shops, doctors, pubs, restaurants and landlords. Despite this variety, there are some certain types of coverage that are basic to all types of businesses. For instance, liability coverage is offered to all kinds of businesses and is highly recommended to obtain. This insurance protects you against different types of liability that could threaten the viability of your business.

Liability Insurance from Towergate is actually comprised of various components. These would include public liability, which is protection for third party liability. Products liability protects you if your product is substandard and causes harm to others. Professional indemnity is a type of liability insurance that protects you if your professional advice causes any errors which could cause loss or injury. A fourth kind of liability insurance is libel and slander. If you are a writer, this protects you from any liability claims that may arise due to your work. Employers™ liability is another sort of liability insurance, this protects a business if an employee is injured on the job. This kind of coverage is a legal requirement if you employ others.

With such a wide array of liability coverage for businesses, it can be perplexing to determine which kinds of liability insurance you need. Towergate has made it easy to determine this simply from their website. By providing site users with four key questions that are answered simply yes or no, the tool will then provide you with a recommendation based on your answers to these questions. Additionally, Towergate makes it easy to contact them via email or phone which can provide you with any manner in which to obtain this important information.

Students tend to share accommodation, whether it’s on a vast scale in halls of residence or on a smaller scale in a shared house. These living arrangements lead to a steady flow of people coming in and out of their lodgings on a daily basis. Loss, accidental damage and theft are prevalent in this living set up meaning that contents insurance for students is vital.

Students like many modern citizens are attached to the world through their mobile phone and their laptop. These two pieces of equipment represent not only cornerstones of modern life but big monetary value. A student insurance bundle from www.endsleigh.co.uk gives 24 hour mobile phone and laptop replacement. The policy covers theft, loss and accidental damage.

Some university accommodation buildings may offer some form of insurance on your goods arranged by the provider. If you visit the www.endsleigh.co.uk site and access the student section you can input your term time address and the site will check if they have any knowledge of cover. In the main it’s probably better to err on the side of caution and take out a more comprehensive policy anyway due to the added threats of student living.

Importantly Endsleigh’s policies cover against loss. Students are always on the move whether it be from house to house to house or just the trip to their campus. This means that their laptops and phones are also constantly on the move and subject to being misplaced.

The NUS recommends www.endsleigh.co.uk insurance because they realise the insurance predicament of a modern student with their excesses of expensive gadgetry.

Image by James Thompson on Flickr

Mortgage loans are fairly common nowadays. In the desire to own real property, people apply for mortgage loans in order to achieve this particular goal. However, there may be instances when paying-off one’s mortgage becomes very difficult to do, primarily because of the lack of finances. This is where mortgage insurance can come in handy.

Mortgage insurance, or a mortgage guaranty, compensates investors or lenders for losses that result from non-payment of a person’s mortgage loan. Mortgage insurance can be made either as private or public, depending on the insurer’s decision.

In the event that mortgage loan payments are getting to be very difficult, mortgage insurance prevents the policyholder’s house from being foreclosed on. When a person has mortgage insurance, it will be take over the mortgage payments in case the mortgage holder becomes unemployed, or becomes unable to work to support himself and his family financially.

Thus, if a person has a mortgage loan, it would be wise to get mortgage insurance as a back up for the loan. It is also important to remember that this kind of insurance will not pay for the family’s basic needs, but will pay only the mortgage loan payments. It is also important to take note that in activating the mortgage insurance, payment processes will depend on the insurance company and decisions that were made upon initial purchase. Depending on the terms of the insurance, the company may make payments for 6 months, 12 months or even 2 years.

When Businesses Require Insurance
A business requires insurance when it has been sued by its employees. This can be due to an employee being assaulted in the place of work. The business also needs to be covered in case a customer fills a lawsuit because a worker has assaulted them or they have been injured at the place of business. The business needs to take up public liability cover to take care of any claims in case those circumstances occur and to cover any legal fees. A business providing services to customers such as consultation will need to take up professional cover to protect them in case a client sues them for professional misconduct.

A business may require taking up insurance to cater for its employee’s medical needs in case of sickness. The business may also take cover in cases of burglary or theft of property by the employees or unknown thieves. The type of cover that they would take up is crime insurance. If the business uses a vehicle in its operation, then it is advisable to take up auto cover to insure against theft or damage to the vehicles. In addition, a business should take up property damage cover in case a fire occurs at the business.

A landlord who owns buildings and rents them to tenants should take up business insurance to be compensated in case there is damage to his property by the tenants.

Many companies provide business cover when you decide to take it up. One such company in the UK is TowerGate, which provides reasonable cover for all business types.

Insurance policies exist in order to cover your back if anything such as a fire, theft, accident or environmental incident were to occur.

On the event of any of the above, those with a good insurance policy such as the ones provided by Endsleigh.co.uk, will be able to make a claim.

Without insurance you are in fact neglecting your health and financial well-being.

However you should always question your coverage in order to determine what exactly you are covered for. Basically it is pointless to take out a coverage that won’t protect you against the likes of being hit by an uninsured driver. Not only will you end up having to pay any medical bills out of your own pocket, you will also have to live with the unfairness of the situation.

Make sure you don’t cut on corners when it comes to insurance, if we all knew when accidents were coming our way, we probably wouldn’t need to invest in insurance at all. The fact of the matter is we don’t and probably never will, which is why it is extremely important to make sure you invest in the appropriate forms of coverage.

Never just assume that the type of insurance you invest in will cover you on every aspect, always read the small print and talk to an experienced advisor first.

Endsleigh.co.uk offer some great insurance policies, which are in fact tailored to your every need, meaning you only pay for the cover required rather than an abundance of unwanted extras.

Simply visit the site in order to receive a quick and easy quote today. Alternatively check out all the information online at endsleigh.co.uk prior to speaking to an advisor and investing in a specialist insurance cover.

Buildings cover, as the name suggests covers the actual building this is against such eventualities as fire, flooding and natural disasters. It basically covers damage or loss to the structure and permanent fixtures in the house, this includes such things as built in wardrobes, kitchen units – but not gas or electrical equipment and central heating systems. It is not only the house that is covered, the garage, sheds and greenhouses can be covered as well.

Contents cover on the other hand covers everything that can be removed from the property, this includes everything from TVs and furniture to jewellery, books and DVDs. Contents insurance will cover your possessions from theft, loss, accidental damage in the home and even accidental damage by you in some instances. What contents cover does not cover for is deliberate damage to possessions so the insurance company may have to investigate some claims more than others. For some items within the house you may need to specify them on the insurance policy, such as laptops and jewellery, there may be extra costs for covering these but will be worth it if anything happens to them.

There are plenty of options for cover available online, and Endsleigh offer one of the most comprehensive policies. You can go to the site for further information on contents insurance and building insurance.

Items such as garden furniture maybe covered by some policies so it is always worth checking when you take out any new insurance. If you have any questions or specific items that you want extra cover for it is always worth asking your insurer about them, after all you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone and this is never truer than when we consider our homes and the possessions within them.