Life keeps changing - when should you update your personal insurance policies?
A New Year often brings with it a fresh start - especially with our long summer holiday coming over the holiday period. With peak wedding season in January, February and March, peak baby boom happening in September and October and peak house sales in February and March, it really is a time of some big life changes!
This also makes it a great time to reassess your personal insurance cover or take that an important step towards getting covered.
It can be so easy to get your cover sorted, pay the bill each month and then largely forget about your policies until you need them, even if life changes.
At Plus 4 Group we send out a letter each year to touch base with our clients to make sure their cover is still meeting their needs, but you don’t need to wait for the reminder.
What you may not realise about a review is that we are not necessarily seeking to up your cover (and therefore premiums). We are not held to sales targets – our role is to work with you to ensure you have the most appropriate cover and this may mean reducing some covers.
Some of the life changes that might trigger a change in cover can include:
Increasing or decreasing your mortgage
A relationship change
An increase or decrease in dependants (such as a new baby, a child moving out or a parent moving in)
A change in employment such as a new occupation or becoming self-employment
An increase or decrease in income
A health or lifestyle change such as quitting smoking
Of course, there are many others, so it is always worth checking in with your broker to discuss if a recent change is a reason to adjust your type or levels of cover.
And changing your cover does not need to be laborious. Have you heard of the Lifestyle Event Benefit?
This is a provision for increasing cover after a change in circumstances - without having to go through the application process again, and regardless of your state of health. There are limits and variations between providers but you may be surprised at how much of an increase you can get, and what life changes are covered (including reaching ages 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 or a dependent child starting secondary school).
Some even allow you to increase your life assurance by up to 25% - of course, conditions and wordings vary slightly between providers.
This illustrates again the benefits of having your insurance through a broker – we are here to help you and work with you so your cover is meeting your needs.
Need to discuss whether your cover is still best meeting your needs? Contact one of our brokers today.