At a time when finances are strained and climate-related events threaten to make things worse, not having the right insurance cover could lead to major setbacks.

Storm Eunice was a timely reminder for us all that we need insurance cover to help protect us against a range of aspects we encounter in our daily lives. Being financially resilient is more important than ever, and insurance plays a key role in helping us build that resilience.

Here are a few key areas to consider.

Home and buildings

Not only is having buildings and contents insurance typically a condition of most UK mortgage offers, but it is also absolutely critical to protect your home against a range of possible risks.

These include extreme weather events such as Eunice, but even more everyday issues such as burst pipes, burglary, or fires.

Really basic issues can invalidate your home insurance, so it is important to keep on top of your policy. Leaving a home unoccupied for a length of time (often around 30 days), not updating your provider when you make alterations to the property, or not using an intruder alarm are all things which can invalidate your cover.

Another major one, which has become more prevalent during the pandemic, is using your home for business purposes. ‘Working from home’ if you have an office job is typically not a problem, but it can become an issue for occupations which involve selling products online from your house, or having customers come to your property for any reason.

The value of your contents should also be scrupulously accounted for. Overestimating the value of the content of your home can lead to policies being invalidated. Items of specific high value such as collectibles, jewellery or electronic equipment should be explicitly accounted for.

Travel

Storm Eunice caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights in the UK, underpinning the importance of travel insurance.

But the need for it to protect your holidays is much broader than just foul weather, and the pandemic has made getting the right policy more important than ever. With travel ramping back up in the wake of government restrictions being lifted, it is essential to ensure you’re fully covered from the moment you leave your house, to stepping off the plane in your destination and back again.

The most important thing to be mindful of is travel advice warnings. During the pandemic major issues arose for travellers where the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) would issue travel warnings for certain countries, but flights would still be operating to those regions.

If the FCDO advises against all but essential travel to a region and you still go – it can invalidate your insurance. But if the airline is still operating the flight you’re booked on and you don’t have insurance – they are under no obligation to refund you.

Many airlines improved their booking and flight change policies as a result of the pandemic, but some are now returning to their less flexible pre-pandemic state.

Life and illness

Life and serious illness protection is a major policy that many people unfortunately forget.

Life insurance is essential when you have dependents such as children, or co-own property and have a mortgage in place. Were something to happen to you, without cover in place, your partner would be liable to cover the mortgage payments despite losing your income.

Some workplaces offer types of cover as a part of employment contracts, but this is not always guaranteed. Life and serious illness cover is therefore essential to protect against the most tragic of unexpected events.

Because these kinds of policies typically deal with such high levels of pay-outs, insurance firms can be extremely particular about the details of policies and information.

Failure to disclose information such as pre-existing medical conditions, missing premium payments, trying to claim too soon, and some types of death are reasons why an insurer may refuse to pay out.

The most common issue however is failing to purchase cover far enough in advance. Not only will you get a better premium the younger you are, but also the longer you hold a policy for, the less likely it will be turned down in the event of a serious, terminal illness or for other pre-existing conditions that might lead to your death.