The free travel cover provided on most credit cards is actually "travel accident insurance", which will usually pay out only if you suffer an accident while travelling to or from your holiday destination, in very limited circumstances.
Proper travel insurance policies should cover medical expenses, repatriation costs, personal liability and cancellations.
Such comprehensive cover is available free on some premium credit cards, but as they charge annual fees of up to £300, you will be paying for it one way or another.
Barclaycard and Co-operative Bank do offer proper travel insurance free to ordinary card customers, but only if they buy a holiday through the card company’s travel service, and use their credit card to pay for it.
36. The best insurance policy is the cheapest
As witnessed by the recent explosion in rate-comparison websites, most people pick insurance policies by price alone.
Few give the policy terms more than a cursory glance before signing up; some don’t even both to do that. You may believe that one policy is pretty much the same as another.
Not so. They can vary quite considerably, and you normally get what you pay for. A low price can mean you have to pay a large chunk of the claim yourself, either because of a massive excess or because the maximum payout is totally inadequate for your needs.
You may have to do without a courtesy car, or alternative accommodation if your home is flooded. You may end up with nothing at all because you have failed to spot the long list of unreasonable exclusions, or have missed an arbitrary deadline.
And policy details are only part of the story. Some insurers reclaim the costs of cheap premiums by cutting back on staff numbers or training, or by fighting every claim, or delaying payment for months.
Of course, the low premium may simply be a loss leader to drum up business, in which case you’ve probably secured yourself a bargain.
The best way to choose a policy is through personal recommendation or, failing that, by consulting an insurance broker who knows his stuff.
37. Red cars cost more to insure
This probably started as an urban legend, possibly in the US, but is complete nonsense.
Although Churchill Insurance put together a "Colour Crash Index" in 2004 which did reveal a direct correlation between car colour and accident frequency, red cars were well down the list of most accident prone, after black, silver, green, yellow, blue and grey.
In any case, neither Churchill nor any other insurer takes car colour into account when deciding your premium.
Interestingly though, red auto paint is more expensive than other colours, making bodywork repairs pricier.
38. I can get good value insurance from my travel agent
Unlikely. Travel agents have long been lambasted for offering expensive travel insurance and you are better off surfing the internet for a better deal.
Since 2005 the sale of travel insurance policies has been regulated by the Financial Services Authority, but policies sold as part of a package holiday by a travel agent or tour operator do not fall under the FSA regime.
The rules mean that anyone selling insurance has to ask certain questions to check the suitability of a policy.
Last year Which?, the consumer champion, accused some travel agents and tour operators of mis-selling travel insurance.
39. I’m too young for life insurance
You may be young, but you’re probably not immortal.
As soon as there is someone who depends on you financially, you need life insurance. That may be a partner who you share a mortgage with, a spouse, or children – anyone who would struggle for money as a result of your death.
Yet according to Virgin Money research, 27 per cent of parents think they are too young too have life insurance, despite being old enough to have children. A 35-year-old non-smoking male can get £100,000 of life insurance cover from as little as £7 a month.
40. Life insurance is more important than critical illness cover
You are actually five times more likely to suffer a critical illness than you are to die before age 65, as heart attacks and cancer are more survivable than ever before.
Most people who contract multiple sclerosis are aged between 20 and 40, and half of all testicular cancer cases show up in men under 35.
Contracting a serious illness like this can mean you need expensive nursing care, drugs, or equipment, and may also limit your future earning potential.
Critical illness insurance can help with these costs, paying out if you are diagnosed with one of a list of specified illnesses. It can be very expensive, however.
41. Suicide isn’t covered on life insurance policies
Most life insurance policies do have suicide clauses, designed to stop people who already plan to take their lives from taking out huge amount of cover, and then killing themselves in order to extract their families from financial problems.
However, these generally only exclude claims for suicide within the first 12 months of a policyholder taking out the cover, and insurers will usually pay up on suicides after that point.
In addition there is often an exception in the first year if the insurance has been taken out to cover a mortgage and can be paid directly to the lender.
Tax

42. Only the rich suffer higher rates of tax
In 1997, 2.1 million people paid higher-rate tax at 40 per cent.
Ten years later the number had risen to 3.7 million, thanks to Gordon Brown’s love of "fiscal drag". This is the phenomenon where tax thresholds, which have gone up in line with inflation, fail to keep pace with average earnings.
Many of the workers who now fall into the top-rate tax brackets include senior nurses and senior ambulance and fire service officers, as well as university lecturers.
In 2007-08, anyone earning more than £39,825 could be liable for higher-rate tax. The threshold is to rise to £43,000 from April 2009, but the
Treasury will claw back the money by widening the band at which 11 per cent National Insurance is paid.
43. I don’t need to make a will because I’m leaving everything to my husband
On the contrary. If you die without making a will, your husband is quite likely to end up having to share your estate with other family members.
If you leave more than £125,000, and have children, he is entitled to £125,000, plus interest on half of the balance – but not the capital itself.
The children inherit half the remaining capital immediately, and the other half when your husband dies.
If you don’t have children, your husband gets the first £200,000, but only half of any remaining capital.
The other half goes to various relatives in the following order: your parents; siblings; grandparents; aunts and uncles.
44. My wife will get my pension when I die
Your wife may be automatically entitled to your pension fund if you die before converting it into a pension.
However, scheme rules differ and it is always advisable to make your wishes clear to the trustees – especially if you want the money to go to someone else.
When it comes to the pension itself, if it is linked to your final salary, your wife is likely to be entitled to a proportion of your pension, but not the full amount.
If your pension is provided by an annuity, and you want your wife to continue receiving an income after your death, you will have to pay for it at the outset – normally by sacrificing part of your pension fund.
45. I don’t need to worry about inheritance tax, because I am leaving everything to my spouse
It is true that there is no IHT to pay on assets transferred between spouses, or those in a civil partnership. But this doesn’t mean you should ignore IHT completely if you have assets exceeding £300,000.
If you want as much as possible to end up in the hands of your children and grandchildren, you need to ensure both spouses make the most of their individual nil-rate bands.
This will ensure that up to £600,000 is passed on to heirs tax-free, rather than just the £300,000 that will be utilised on the death of the second spouse.
Remember too that this exemption only applies to married couples, or those in a civil partnership.
Co-habitees enjoy no such exemption, regardless of how long they have lived together or how many children they have.
46. If I give away my home and survive for seven years I don’t have an IHT problem
Theoretically this can work, but only if you pay a market rent on your home while you continue to live there. If you live there rent-free, then this is considered a "gift with reservation’’ by HM Revenue & Customs, which will not make it exempt from IHT.
In practice, even if you pay the correct rent, this is seldom a tax-saving move. Many older people are asset-rich but cash poor; so paying rent on their own home would seriously impact their standard of living.
What is more, the beneficiaries who receive this rent will have to pay income tax on this money. They are also likely to be subject to capital gains tax if they sell this home after your death, as it is not their primary residence.
This means they have to pay CGT at 40 per cent on any gains in the property’s value from the day it was given them, to the day it was sold.
So the potential tax saving for your heirs may be negligible, but the cost