Hold on! Here’s the ONLY insurance cover you REALLY need

APPARENTLY, we can never have enough insurance. We need it to cover everything, from the inconvenience of losing our phones to the unthinkable — losing our lives. We need it to cover cars, boats, pets, health, homes, mortgages, holidays, appliances… or even in case we get ‘cold feet’ before marriage (a legitimate feature of wedding cover).

We need it to cover all sorts of crazy things (see below panel), from breasts to buck teeth, and falling coconuts to online fantasy football players’ injuries.

Or at least that’s what the brokers and insurers would have us believe with their adverts, marketing campaigns and sales patter.

Insurance covers us. It protects, they say. It’s even suggested that it will prevent bad things from happening. But I don’t buy that. Try jumping out of a plane clutching a life insurance policy instead of a parachute and see what happens.

If you were the type who believed every insurance ad, you’d fork out tens of thousands of euro to insure every conceivable event and spend half your time wading through small print and filling out forms.

Buying insurance is a bit like betting on something bad happening. But the insurer sets the odds to make a profit — and pay for its marketing and other expenses. So most likely, just like the bookies, they will win and you will lose.

Of course, there are some types of cover we simply have to have — such as life, home and car insurance. Some policies, like holiday cover, are indeed worth having, but others are unnecessary, and just plain daft.

Buy insurance you need, or that provides real value. A good rule of thumb is to insure people rather than things because that’s what’s most important.

Here’s what you need to buy and five tips that could save you a lot of money.