There are two different kinds of insurance - life insurance and general insurance. With life insurance you don't renew your policy each year. Instead, you agree to pay a fixed premium for a set number of years. In other words you enter a long-term commitment when you buy a life insurance policy.

What is the Difference?
General insurance pays out;

• if a car has an accident or is stolen
• if a house catches fire or is burgled
• if a holiday has to be cancelled
• if someone is careless and damages other people's property.

Most life policies, on the other hand, pay out when an event happens;

• when someone dies
• when someone survives beyond a specific date.

Anyone can buy life insurance but, of course, the premium will depend on your age, your health, and your occupation.
Husbands and wives can insure each other's lives. However, you cannot insure the lives of other people unless you have a financial involvement in their life. This principle of insurance is called "insurable interest".

Insurable Interest
Insurable interest is a fundamental principle of insurance. It means that the person wishing to take out insurance must be legally entitled to insure the article, or the event, or the life. In other words, the happening of the event insured against, or the death of the life insured must cause the policyholder financial loss. Mr Smith would not be able to insure Mr Brown's house because its destruction would not cause Mr Smith financial loss. Similarly, you cannot insure the lives of other people unless you have a financial interest in the life being insured. The principle of insurable interest demonstrates the difference between insurance and a wager or bet.

General Principles
Other principles apply to all kinds of insurance.

• Insurance can provide compensation only for the actual value of property. It cannot cover the loss of sentimental value, for example.
• There must be a large number of similar risks so that the likelihood of a claim can be spread among other policyholders. It must be possible for insurers to calculate the chance of loss so that a premium can be set which matches the risk.
• Losses must not be deliberate and not inevitable. Clearly, you could not buy fire insurance for a house which was already burning nor life insurance for someone on his or her deathbed.
• Lastly, there are some risks which have financial implications so vast that they can be dealt with only by the state. These risks (mainly those arising from war or the major escape of nuclear or radioactive material) are normally not insurable.
• Insurance takes the risk away from people's lives and businesses. It brings peace of mind to the policyholder. In return for paying premiums the policyholder knows that, if the unexpected happens, financial compensation will be available from the fund of premiums