How to Review Your Insurance Every Year

A policy you bought five years ago was built for the life you had five years ago. Incomes change, families grow, homes get renovated, and cars get replaced, but coverage doesn't update itself. An annual review is the easiest way to catch the gap before a claim finds it for you.

This doesn't need to take long. Here's what's actually worth checking once a year.

Start with what's changed in your life

A few life events almost always mean your coverage needs a second look:

• Getting married or divorced
• Having a child, or another one
• A significant change in income, in either direction
• Retiring, or a major change in how you work
• Moving, or starting to rent out a property you own
• Starting or taking over a farm or business

Walk through your home coverage

Your dwelling coverage should match what it would cost to rebuild your home today, not what you paid for it. If you've renovated, finished a basement, or added a garage since your last review, that number is probably out of date. It's also worth checking whether any high-value items, jewelry, guns, collectibles, need to be scheduled separately, since standard policies usually cap those categories. For a deeper, room-by-room pass, our home insurance audit guide walks through it step by step.

Check your auto coverage

Add or remove any vehicles or drivers that have changed since last year, especially a new teen driver or a car that's no longer in the household. It's also a good time to make sure your liability limits still make sense. The minimum required by law is rarely the amount worth actually carrying.

Check your life insurance

If your income, mortgage, or number of dependents has changed, your life insurance coverage amount should be revisited too. A number that made sense when you bought the policy can fall behind pretty quickly after a raise, a new baby, or a bigger mortgage.

Ask about deductibles and discounts

Rates and available discounts change more often than most people expect. It's worth asking whether you're still getting every discount you qualify for, and whether your deductibles still match what you could comfortably pay out of pocket today.

Make it a habit

The easiest way to actually do this every year is to tie it to something else you already do on a schedule, tax season, spring cleaning, a birthday. Pick one, and use it as your annual reminder to pull out your policies.

Bring your policies in

You don't have to sort through this alone. Bring your current policies by either office, or give us a call, and we'll go through them with you and flag anything that needs updating.