There are many life changes that you should discuss with your insurance agent in order to make sure you’re adequately covered and are taking advantage of discounts or opportunities to save. From getting married and having a baby, to starting a new job or getting a raise, it is imperative you keep a close connection with your insurance agent during these events.
For example, when getting married, you will likely (if you haven’t already) move in together. Make sure to speak with your insurance agent to insure your combined belongings on one homeowners or renters insurance policy. For renters, you can simply drop one of the policies and you both will be covered on the policy that you keep active. The same goes for homeowners, however you should consider relevant adjustments now that you live together.
In addition, when getting married, by combining your auto policies and your new combined home policy into one bundle, you’ll likely be able to benefit from discounts on the policy overall. Bottom line, if you’re not sure if a life event could impact your policy, speak to an insurance expert who can help you understand what you can do to optimize your policy for your current life situation.
Life Changes & How They Impact Your Insurance – St. Clair Shores, MI
Video Transcription
“Income is a fairly important thing that plays into your liability coverages. So, if you make 40 or $50,000 a year, opposed to a person that makes maybe $250,000 per year, they have, maybe, more assets, likely they are able to afford a much larger home, probably some “toys”, things like that, you need the appropriate amount of liability coverage to protect all those things. Young drivers is another thing and most people want to avoid that and not contact their agent. But it’s not going to benefit you long term if you just hide a driver. So if you’ve got a young driver 16 or older, that’s newly licensed, unless they’re never going to drive your vehicle, you should add them to your policy, inevitably they’re going to drive one of your vehicles, so you need to make sure that they’re on there because if they’re not, and there is an accident, and there’s a claim that’s filed, that driver not being on the policy may not be provided coverage. Another big thing, location is really important for insurance. A lot of people try to–they know where high priced areas are. So, a lot of people avoid insurance costs by using different addresses for the auto policy. If you move we need to know where you live. That way your policy is rated correctly. And again, if you need to use your policy, all things are done properly. That way when you file your claim, there’s no questions. There’s no opposition. You’ll receive your money, your claim will be paid, and your experience will be what it should be.”
Life Changes to Discuss With Your Insurance Agent
While not all of the following life changes will result in a change in policy necessarily. However, odds are that there may be opportunities to improve your coverage and/or save on your current policy as a result of the change. The only way to find out is to speak with your insurance agent and get some clarity on your most recent life chagnes.
Some of the most common life changes that you should discuss with your insurance agent include:
- Marriage
- Divorce
- Having a baby
- Home renovations or additions
- Starting a business
- Starting a new job
- Switching mortgage or auto loan lenders
- Buying a home
- Buying a car
- Child who gets a license
