27 May 2019
It's important to review your protection policies regularly with your broker. Here are a few reasons why.
One thing that we’ve noticed with our clients is that they will often review insurance policies for their car, home or VHI healthcare fairly regularly. They are being smart consumers making sure they are getting the best deal on the market by checking out competitors rates, current promotions, and discounts they may receive for being loyal or careful customers. However, when asked if they review their life, income or mortgage protection policies, most will tell us that they hadn’t ever considered it- that the term of their policy is 10, 20 even 30 years, and they expected to review it at the end of that term. Well, we’re here to tell you, that’s just not the case. Here are the top three reasons why you should regularly review your policy with your adviser.
Things Change
In many cases, you may have life events that have changed your circumstances. There are so many factors that can leave you either under-insured for your current needs or paying too much based on the options or discounts being offered for those in your circumstances. Some life changes that may affect your insurance needs or rates:
The birth of a child
A change of profession
A Promotion
The purchase of property or a second home
Children going off to university, or otherwise leaving the home
Retirement
As your adviser, it is our job to ensure that we are keeping your family properly covered, and we try to check in with our clients at regular intervals to see if any of these things have changed.
2) Be a Smart Buyer
Another thing to take into consideration is that the life assurance industry is a business. Many of us will search for the best deal on our favorite snack in the shop, or research all the different options and features available when purchasing a new car, but it can be trickier to find out that your life assurance company has lowered their rate, or that a competitor has started accepting people with certain conditions for coverage without a loading fee that increases the monthly cost. Checking in with your insurance adviser annually can ensure that your needs are being met to the highest standard, and at the best possible price for you and your family.
3) Industry changes
Things change in any industry, and the protection industry, like any financial industry, is highly regulated. Laws and best practices change frequently. In some cases, this can overlap with our previous point, if one company makes a significant change, often times other companies will follow. In other cases, it can be a sweeping change in regulation, such as GDPR laws that affected how your data was stored, and the ways in which your brokers could contact you. In most cases, these changes won’t affect your existing policies or the way your business is handled by your broker or the life assurance companies. However, in some cases, it may offer you the chance to get better or different options. Even if it is ‘just’ a change that affects how paperwork is handled, or how your company operates, it’s good to review any significant changes with your adviser to ensure that you are still happy with the company your policy is written with.
So, as you can see, there are many reasons to review your policy regularly with your broker. If you’d like to review your policy, be sure to get in touch! If you’re looking to purchase a protection policy, be sure to let your adviser know that you want to do an annual review. We’re always happy to have the chance to check in with our clients. Contact us today to schedule a policy review.
Written by Padraig Farrell
