It’s a good idea to review your insurance coverage at least once a year. This will help ensure that you or your family and belongings are appropriately protected. It’s also a good idea to review your coverage after you’ve made a major purchase or experienced a significant life event, such as buying a home, getting married, sending children to school or receiving an inheritance. These events are considered “insurance qualifying events” or “life-changing events for purpose of insurance”.
Here’s some information to consider to help ensure that you’ve got the coverage you need to protect you, your loved ones and belongings. An insurance review might be a good place to start.
What is an Insurance Review?
An insurance review is a thorough look at your insurance coverage, or, the policies protecting your vehicles, home, family members and other valuables. To review your insurance coverages, reach out to an agent so that they may tap into their expertise and knowledge to help you out.
The Benefits of an Insurance Review.
An insurance review provides peace of mind that if something unexpected were to happen, your family and most treasured belongings are protected. An unexpected event could be a fire, theft, car accident, or weather event. A review also helps to find potential reduction in your insurance costs. You might be eligible for discounts or require less coverage than you previously did.
When and Why Should You Review Your Insurance Coverage?
During an insurance review, you should evaluate all your insurance policies, such as home or renters insurance, car insurance, and any other policies that you have in your name.
Whenever your circumstances change or you live through a “qualifying event”, you’ll want to consider an insurance review. You should also consider one when your policies are up for renewal, which is typically once a year.
What’s an Insurance-Qualifying Event?
Insurance-qualifying events are moments or milestones in life when things change. As you grow older, you will likely acquire more things that require protection. Since these events can occur throughout the period of an insurance policy, you’ll want to check with your agent when one of these events occurs outside of the typical policy renewal time frame.
A qualifying or life-changing event for insurance purposes includes:
A change in family size or status, such as having a baby, adopting a child, getting married, divorced, or losing a family member.
Childhood milestones such as a child being eligible to drive a car, when a child graduates, or goes to college.
Retirement and aging milestones such as when you retire you no longer commute to work, or downsize from owning a home to renting one or move to an long-term care facility.
Professional changes, for example, if you own a business, certain changes to your company can warrant an insurance review. This includes selling your business, going public with an Initial Public Offering, or changing office locations.
Changes in your living situation. This might include moving, selling a property, remodeling your home or renting it out.
Other Times You May Want an Insurance Review.
If you have expensive, high-value possessions on your property, or are taking steps to increase the safety of your home, such as adding an alarm system or upgrading your electrical system, those situations may call for an insurance review. If natural disasters have increased in your area, such as fires, hurricanes, or tornados, you may want to consider updating your policy.
How Often Should You Change Your Coverage?
Although we suggest that you review your policy annually, you may not need to make any changes. Oftentimes, your current coverage may still be fine, but it's a responsible thing to do. Contact your insurance agent to see if it’s time to change your coverage.
Source:
https://www.travelers.com/resources/home/insuring/how-often-should-i-review-my-insurance-coverage