Why insurance is a problem
You pay a premium for an uncertain payout. The company invests the float in bonds. That combination is gharar plus riba for the classical schools. Motor insurance is still mandatory to drive. Employers’ liability is mandatory to hire. Life insurance is not.
How takaful is supposed to work
Participants donate (tabarru) into a pool. Claims are paid from the pool. An operator takes a wakala fee to run it. Surplus is returned or reserved, not harvested as underwriting profit in the conventional sense. That is the model. A product that keeps conventional pricing and a thin Arabic cover sheet is not takaful.
Living in Britain in the meantime
Where the law requires insurance and no takaful exists, the necessity (darura) argument is widely used: buy the required cover, nothing extra. Optional add-ons, gap insurance as a punt, and investment-linked life policies do not inherit that excuse. Home finance providers will require buildings cover — ask if they accept a named policy and keep it at rebuild cost.