Did you know that you should review your insurance coverage every single year? The beginning months of the year are the best time to sit down with your insurance agent and go over your policies. This process can be used to clear up any questions that you have regarding your insurance, as well as to make sure that you have the right amount of coverage. How can you prepare for this review? Here are some tips.
Gather Your Information
The first step in preparing for an insurance review involves gathering as much information as possible about your home, vehicles, and belongings. In order to ensure that you have all of the insurance coverage that you need, you first need information on everything that should be covered. For example:
- Do You Have Collections? – Some items, like expensive art and jewelry collections, aren’t covered by a standard homeowner’s insurance policy. Instead, they need an additional rider in order to fully insure them. Without this, if something happens, they won’t be fully covered.
- Are All of Your Vehicles Fully Covered? – If you recently bought an additional car, truck, RV or even a boat, you need to make sure that you have enough coverage on them. Your annual insurance review is the best place to check on this and add onto your policy if necessary.
Check Your Home’s Current Value
How much is your home currently worth? Since this amount can fluctuate based on the economy and how much equivalent houses are worth in your neighborhood, your home’s value might have gone up drastically. When you first purchase homeowner’s insurance, you go off of the value at that particular time. Usually, this number doesn’t change on your insurance documents, leaving you at risk should something happen to your home, and you find out that you don’t have enough coverage. This is one of the main reasons why you should look up this information prior to your annual insurance review. You don’t want to be caught without the coverage that you need.
Bring Membership Information
Did you know that a membership in a special alumni association or professional organization might be able to save you money on your insurance policies? These organizations often have an agreement with certain insurance companies designed to give you a small discount as an additional perk of being a member of the group. If you have any of these memberships, bring your information with you to your annual insurance review. You might be able to get a discount, and let’s face it, every little bit helps.
Have Your Policies Handy
Finally, you need to have all of your insurance policies with you when you meet your agent for your annual review. While your agent more than likely has access to all of this information, it’s always a good idea to have everything with you, just in case. In addition, if you have any policies with other companies, this is a good opportunity to condense everything under one umbrella, making life easier for you and giving you the opportunity to possibly qualify for a multi-policy discount.