Life changing events often signal the right time to review insurance cover and make any necessary adjustments to policies. While insurance may not always be top of mind, a regular review of all insurance cover ensures your policies still reflect changes to your lifestyle and financial situation. To help you plan an insurance review at the right time, we’ve outlined some of the milestone events that could trigger an insurance review.
1. Changes to relationship
Getting married or moving in with a partner means you’re no longer responsible for just yourself. Many people choose this time to update insurance by including partners and any dependents on the policy. Setting up insurance at the start of your marriage sets in place good habits for future security. Similarly, a separation or divorce could signal a change to your insurance needs, with either a cancellation of policy or a change to the beneficiary. If neglected, insurance policies can be a cause of significant financial concern in the future.
2. New family member or empty nest
Changes to family situation – such as the arrival of a new baby, an older child moving out, or even an elderly parent moving in – are often the motivation for an insurance review. Insurance cover helps provide for dependents should a tragedy occur, by repaying the mortgage in full, or covering future expenses like school fees or university fees. Children growing up and leaving the family home could mean a time of more independence, and less need for insurance cover to provide for dependents should something happen to the breadwinner.
3. Career change
Whether it’s a new job or a promotion, a redundancy or retirement, a change to career usually signals an opportunity for an insurance review. Major changes to income can have significant impact on insurance needs. An increase in household income means extra cover may be necessary to keep up with expenses should the worst happen. Or extra cover may provide peace of mind with an anticipated short term loss of income – due to time off for study or maternity leave. Having the right cover in place can provide some financial stability in challenging times.
4. Upsizing or downsizing
Many lenders will require insurance to cover the home loan in the event that the homeowner is unable to repay the mortgage. That’s why it’s so important to review insurance cover any time your housing situation changes. Upsizing or even downsizing your home, or adding to your property portfolio with an investment property or two, could be the right time to review your existing insurance needs and make any changes to insurance cover.
5. An unexpected health diagnosis
A life changing diagnosis could mean the need to adjust life insurance needs. As life insurance is designed to fit your lifestyle, it’s important that it keeps up with major life changes. By reviewing your policies at least once a year, checking the level of cover is still sufficient, you can provide for those you love should the worst happen.
If you’re unsure about the level of cover you and your family need, or you’d like to find out more about new insurance cover to fit your changing lifestyle, get in touch with a Mortgage Express insurance adviser.
At Mortgage Express we have access to a vast range of insurance products and can help you make the choices that are important to your individual needs.
Disclaimer:
While all care has been taken in the preparation of this publication, no warranty is given as to the accuracy of the information and no responsibility is taken by Mortgage Express Limited for any errors or omissions. This publication does not constitute personalised financial advice. It may not be relevant to individual circumstances. Nothing in this publication is, or should be taken as, an offer, invitation, or recommendation to buy, sell, or retain any investment in or make any deposit with any person. You should seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters dealt within this publication.
A Disclosure Statement is available on request and free of charge.
