Cutting down on your personal insurance cover seams ideal when trying to cut costs, however many policies are used to provide help to you in times of need.

A review, undertaken for The Telegaraph, has shown that many of us are planning to cancel insurance policies to save money. 27 per cent of the consumers surveyed, planned to reduce their medical health insurance and 17% were considering reduceing pet insurance.

The managing director of AIS, says that it is a bad sign when consumers reduce the cover of the very insurance that protect them.
Tony Solomon, agrees with this view, saying it is dangerous to cancel you insurance, because loss of cover may adversely effect their family and themselves in the years to come. life insurance cover and critical illness are both too important to sacrifice. If the worst happened and you were to die, or fall terminally ill, then cancelling your policy could leave your family with without hope, he says.

You are advised to talk to your insurer if you are having difficulty paying your monthly premiums, as they may be able to arrange a tempoary reduction in the amount of cover.

The British Insurance Brokers Association, says that people do not appreciate what is involved in replacing possessions, if they are stolen. He advises everyone to take out contents insurance, but to look at reducing your cover level, as they may not need all your possessions covered. For example, contents insurance costs about 149 pounds a year on average, you can reduce this by 25% by canceling the extra options.

Pet cover may appear to be unnecessary, but without cover you may struggle to be able to afford the vet bills. So which policies are you safe to cancel? Referring to medical cover, Solomon says that many people have medical insurance with their employment. However, if this is not the case, it is of the utmost importance that you protect the future of your family financially. Therefore, it would be advisable to choose critical illness cover, which pays out a lump sum, rather than mortgage life assurance or health cover.