As you make your way through your spring-cleaning checklist, don’t forget to dig out your insurance policies and look them over. Here are some of the reviewable elements of your home, life and auto insurance policies.

Homeowners Insurance

1. Make sure you have sufficient coverage

Experts say the top insurance mistake is being under-insured, which happens when you fail to update your coverage as your property, lifestyle or needs change.

Take the time to assess those changes and determine where you need to adjust your insurance coverage. For example, if you like to entertain at home, consider increasing your liability coverage and purchasing a separate umbrella policy.

Umbrella liability policies typically offer a minimum of $1 million of additional liability protection and cost just a few hundred dollars a year.

2. Make sure you have enough personal property insurance

Most people do not take the time to inventory their personal possessions, and often do not have enough personal property insurance as a result. Homeowners should be careful not to overlook their belongings as a way to keep insurance costs down.

It is very likely that you have added new belongings to your home over the last year. If so, now is the time to inventory those belongings and ensure you have the right type of coverage for the actual value of your property.

Most consumers automatically accept the amount of contents coverage named in their policy. Instead, read the policies carefully to make sure there are no gaps in coverage, and check the dollar limits and excluded causes for personal property.

It is in your best interest to raise the dollar limit if necessary, as it will help you better replace or recover the value of your possessions if disaster strikes.

Life Insurance

If you have a life insurance policy, you should make sure to review its principal points at least once a year, including beneficiary, benefit amount, term, loans and cash value.

1. Update your beneficiaries

Many of us forget to update our policies when circumstances change. Life events such as marriage, getting divorced or having children should prompt you to update your beneficiaries. The beneficiary designations on your life insurance policy will trump any other documents you’ve created outlining your beneficiaries, so ensure that they match!

Beneficiaries and other policy details should be reviewed at least every three years and after any major life events.

2. Review the term of your policy

If you have term life insurance, it’s important to know when the term ends. An annual review will prevent a term policy expiration from sneaking up on you. If you are caught unaware, you may face a major premium hike.

Some term policies may be convertible to permanent insurance on their anniversary, which others may be convertible at the end of their term.

3. Assess the amount of your policy

Make sure the amount of your life insurance policy is still appropriate for its intentions and for your financial situation.

Take time to evaluate what you intend for the benefits to cover. Are you hoping to fund your burial expenses, or provide college tuition for your children? Does your policy provide sufficient coverage for these needs? If not, it may be time to look into additional coverage.

If your personal wealth has increased significantly in the last year, you may consider more life insurance in order to protect your family from estate taxes.

Auto Insurance

1. Reassess your comprehensive/collision coverage

If you have collision and comprehensive coverage, take time to make sure the limits are adequate, or whether you still need it. If you don’t have the coverage, consider whether it’s time to add it.

If you’re driving an older car worth less than $1,000 – or less than 10 times the insurance premium – having comprehensive or collision coverage may no longer make sense. Dropping either the comprehensive or collision coverage may reduce your premium.

2. Ask about any new discounts.

Ask about any discounts that you may qualify for, such as:

Multi-vehicle discount
Good student discount
Safe driver discount
Loyalty discount
Resident student discount

If you don’t drive very often, providing your insurance agent with your low mileage estimate could save you money. You may also receive discount if you belong to professional associations and organizations.

https://www.barrowsins.com