Types of Insurance

There are many different types of insurance that protect against financial loss. Common insurance types include property, auto, health, and life insurance. Each of the common insurance types have a number of sub-types leading to a wide range of choices even for just the common insurances.

Beyond the common insurance types there are also a number of other insurances that range from standards like travel insurance and warranties, to FDIC guarantees and worker’s compensation. In many cases these will have a number of sub-types and options for policy “riders“.

Below we will give a brief overview of each insurance type.

Health Insurance

Health insurance protects you against financial loss due to medical needs. At it’s simplest health insurance pays for basic care and sets a maximum limit for the amount you can spend on in-network covered services. That being said there are a range of medical, dental, and vision plans that can change what is covered and the amount of cost sharing a policy holder is responsible for.

Common health insurance types include:

• Private health insurance for individuals and families
• Group health plans offered by employers
• Medicaid and CHIP
• Medicare
• Short Term Health Insurance (doesn’t protect you from the fee for not having insurance)

Auto Insurance

Auto insurance protects against the risks of operating any vehicle, the most common types is car insurance, but auto insurance includes motorcycles, trucks, and any other road vehicles.

Beyond what type of vehicle is insured there a number of different types of car insurance in regard to what the driver is liable for in the event of an accident and what legal, medical, and vehicle related fees the insurer will be responsible for.

Common health insurance types include:

• Liability insurance
• Collision coverage
• Comprehensive coverage
• Personal Injury coverage
• Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Protection

Life Insurance

There are a number of different types of life insurance, but there are only two main types those are term and whole life. Term protects you for a limited amount of time where whole life, as the name implies protects you for life.

Common types of life insurance include:

• Term life
• Whole life
• Universal life
• Variable life

Residential Property Insurance

Whether it’s a commercial or residential property many types of real estate require property insurance. Other big ticket items like boats or even a car could be considered property, and while these are insurable we will cover those under different sections. Residential property insurance is any insurance that relates to the insurance of property, including insurance related to mortgages, renting property, condos, and more.

Common property insurance types include:

• Homeowners insurance
• Renters insurance
• Flood, earthquake, and other disaster insurances
• Mortgage and title insurance

Business Insurance and Commercial Property Insurance

Just like residential property commercial property owners and business owners need their own forms of insurance. Since “business” is an overarching subject some business insurance’s include other insurance types. For instances a business may have to provide health insurance, worker’s compensation, insure an employees work vehicle, and more.

Important insurance types for business owners include:

• Business owner’s insurance
• Professional liability insurance
• Commercial property insurance
• Also included are things like aviation, computer, marine, and more. When businesses use expensive equipment or run vehicles they typically have insurance options for these things and their liability.

Travel Insurance

Since traveling is a common thing giving travel insurance it’s own insurance type makes sense. Travel insurance is a short term insurance that can cover basic liability, lost items, expenses, medical, rented vehicles, and more.

Other Insurance

As mentioned there are actually a number of other insurance types that can cover most anything that involves a financial risk.

Check out the list from Wikipedia below. It is a list of everything categorized as “insurance” in Wikipedia: