Insurance, a key component of Risk Management, is simply ‘passing' the financial risk of an event onto someone else (the insurance company), in exchange for a premium paid. Insurance falls in three main categories; General Insurance, Personal Insurance and Business Insurance.

Common reasons you may need to buy insurance are to:

• protect your assets, for example, home, contents and car
• protect your income in the event of illness
• pay off the mortgage if you die
• provide some money for your family if you die
• cover medical expenses if you get sick.

You probably need some form of insurance, but not everyone needs all these different kinds. How much insurance you need will depend on your own particular circumstances and attitudes. It is very easy to buy too much insurance and just as easy to not buy enough.

The question is "how good is your protection portfolio?" Any plan is only as good as the weakest link. All plans need to be regularly reviewed.