At Consultative Insurance Group, we provide personal and commercial insurance products and services, utilizing a consultative process to ensure our clients get the maximum protection available for their insurance dollar. Annual insurance reviews are a vital part toward your maximum protection.
Annual insurance reviews are necessary to keep your insurance policies' up-to-date and to minimize insurance gaps. Consider the following common insurance situations and how they may apply to your insurance plan.
Schedule Personal Property
New Appraisals. With any collectibles insured under a scheduled personal property policy, as time passes, the value of said items may increase or decrease. The appraisal you obtained when insurance coverage first applied may no longer be correct. For example, the price of gold has changed significantly over the years. In 1985 it was $327; in 2005 it was $513; in 2015 it was $1060; in 2021 it is $1782. If you have jewelry, we recommend a new appraisal on your items at least every 3 years. Once the new appraisal completed, be sure to notify your insurance agent immediately for your items to be updated to the correct value.
Life Insurance
Beneficiaries. No matter what type of life insurance policy you have, a review of your plan is necessary. Many times the person(s) selected as a beneficiary (who will get the life insurance benefits when you die) should be changed. Examples for reasons to change/update your beneficiary designations: Divorce, broken wedding engagements, your child is now considered an adult, and even lost friendships. Without a review, these would not get changed unless you remembered to do so on your own.
Needs Analysis. When you initially met with your life insurance agent, you may have gone through a "Needs Analysis" which helped determine the value of insurance needed at the time on your life. Your initial desire may have been to have funding for your spouse to pay off the mortgage, pay off the car loans, provide college tuition for your kids, and pay off other debts. By reviewing your life insurance plan -- particularly if it is a term life insurance plan with an option to convert all or a portion to a permanent life insurance plan--your financial needs may have changed. Your kids may have finished college, moved out, married and now have children of their own. Your home and cars may be paid off. Your needs may have grown more simplified than when you initially started.
Home Insurance
Renovations. When you initially insured your house, a Replacement Cost Estimator was completed to determine the value to rebuild your home. This amount was before renovations and/or upgrades were done to your home. Renovations may increase the value of your home and even though it may not be a full renovation of your home, you do not want to be under-insured in case of a disaster. If your home is found to be under-insured due to renovations or up-grades, you would need to pay the difference to rebuild your home. Notifying your agent ahead of time is worthwhile to avoid being under-insured.
Kids In College. Most home insurance policies will extend 10% of contents coverage to your kid's belongings while they are living away and attending college. If your home insurance policy has $50,000 in contents, this means your college student would have a maximum of $5000 on their stuff while at college. There are limitations on this coverage. If you think this coverage would not be enough for your college student, there are a couple of options. 1) You could increase your home insurance content coverage or 2) you could purchase a renter's insurance policy for your kid. Get a free renter's quote now by selecting our "Get A Quote Now" button. 3) Talk with your insurance agent about which option would be best for your situation.
Auto Insurance
New Driver. Remember the excitement of gaining new independence when you got your first driver's license? While it is a rite of passage, it is also a reminder to include them onto your auto insurance policy as a driver, or if they are purchasing their own vehicle, to bring them in to talk with one of our agents to get car insurance or visit our "Get A Quote Now" option. Some insurance companies may not provide insurance protection for accidents involving drivers not listed on your policy.
Online Changes. While you can make changes to your car insurance plans online, following up as soon as possible with your insurance agent is a must. Sometimes in your best intentions, you may unknowingly leave off, remove or reduce important insurance coverage.
Get Started
There are various ways to meet your insurance agent to discuss an overview of your insurance policies, in person, email or over the telephone.
At Consultative Insurance Group, we offer all of the above means in addition to virtual annual insurance reviews. (If you have not been involved in a virtual meeting, our team is happy to help you walk through the process.)
Annual insurance reviews are not for trying to increase your premium, but to review what you believe to be protected, actually is.
If you would like to schedule your review with our agency today, you can do so by email, scheduling an appointment (virtually, in person, telephone), or talking with an agent.