All assets have some economic value attached to them. No person can deny that there is also a possibilty that these assets may get damaged/destroyed or become non-operational due to risks like breakdowns, fire, floods, earthquake etc. Different assets are exposed to different types of risks like a car has a risk of theft or meeting an accident, a house is exposed to risk of catching fire, a human is exposed to risk of death/accident. Insurance is needed because of following reasons:

Social Security Tool
Insurance acts as an important tool providing a sense of security to the society on a whole. It is the right of every human-being to have basic amenities like food, clothing, housing, medical care, standard of living necessary for his personal and family's well being, and right to security in case of unemployment, disability, sickness or any other circumstances out of his control.

In case the bread earner of a family dies, the family suffers from direct financial loss as family's income ceases. As a result, family's economic condition gets affected unless there are other arrangements to rescue the family from this situation. Life insurance is one alternate arrangement that offers some respite to the family from financial distress. Otherwise this family would have been pushed into the lower strata of the society, which would be an additional cost to the society. This is because subsidies would have to be given to the family so as to enable it to survive and enjoy the basic rights at par with other people. Moreover, a poor family is generally seen to have a large family size with family members being illiterate. This on a whole affects the society and is a cost to the society. Therefore, insurance compliments the state in social management efforts.

Uncertainty
The basic need of insurance arises as risks are uncertain and unpredictable in nature. Getting insurance for an asset does not mean that the asset is protected against risks or its exposure to risk is reduced, but it actually implies that in case the asset suffers any loss in value due to such risk, the insurance company bears the loss and compensates the insured by making payment to him.

Economic Development
The premium paid by people to the insurance companies is a part of their savings. Insurance, thus, acts as a useful instrument in promoting savings and investments, particularly within the lower-income and middle-income families. These savings are ultimately used as investments fuelling economic growth.

General Purposes of Insurance
Insurance is widely popular and beneficial because of its following general purposes:
1. Protection or safety (Term insurances) : These plans are best suited for people aged upto 35 years as it provides higher protection at low cost. These plans are also beneficial for a person whose income is low and want to secure their family from financial default in case of his death.
2. Marriage or education of the child (Children plans)
3. Speedy growth of money & risk cover (Unit Linked Plans)
4. Saving and Protection (Endowment type plans)
5. Saving, protection & liquidity (Money back plans)

The above purposes apply for life insurance. In case of General insurance the basic purpose is to protect the insured against financial loss suffered by him or creation of liability, due to the causes covered by the policy.