When deciding to write about this topic, I came to the realization that a lot of people might not even recognize that they need to review their insurance. Every 6 months or annually, it is best to go through at least some of your insurance. Especially when it is time for renewal of any insurance product owned.For example, auto insurance. We usually get a new policy every six months. That is a good time to do the review and see what changes you might want to make with your agent this coming year.
With auto insurance, when living in a perfect world, the agency would call you consistently to review your property and casualty insurance. Once upon a time, I had called someone to review their home and auto insurance twice. Then, about a month later, something terrible happened. A person backed up, drunk, and drove out of their driveway, running over a little girl. One of their daughters had stopped to tie her shoe while riding her bike, and that was it. The car backed up over her, and that was the end of that poor girl’s life.
Well, we were on top of it right away! We called insurance and worked with them to file the claim (death). The only problem we came across really was that we hadn’t reviewed their insurance, and I had found them to be underinsured. Due to this, they only received $25,000 for this claim. I knew, after doing a review with me, they would have been getting $500,000, yet it was too late. Once something happens, we can’t go back and upgrade the insurance.
They were so nice to us and thanked us for calling them to review their insurance. They had known we had been calling them and now wished they had not neglected something of such high importance. They had just learned the hard way about the results of being underinsured. That they would not be getting a huge payout, and that they would have to make do with what they were receiving.
To end the story, they thanked us greatly for calling us to review our insurance, and due to this, they decided to invest with us. We set up a nice retirement 529 college account for the girl’s twin. The girl had a twin who was riding her bike way ahead of her sister when this happened. The parents had decided to give their daughter a good college educational experience, due to her losing her twin sister. They invested in us also, as we had done our best to take care of their family. We had earned their business.
Therefore, the value of reviewing your insurance is high. Any agent tied to your insurance policies needs to help to review your insurance with you and explain to you what would happen (most likely) when filing a claim (reporting an incident that we need compensation for). Also, the agent needs to make sure you are fully covered based on your particular family situation. Everyone is different and has different needs with their insurance. It is important that you work through these differences with your agent. No matter what insurance product it is, it will become of importance to you when something happens, and you find out you were not fully covered for the incident.
With group healthcare, I like to look at my deductibles, copayments, and coinsurances. Finding out my out-of-pocket maximum helps me with my final determination. You must know what the maximum amount you would have to pay per calendar year for medical bills with your health insurance is. A lot of policies can be $2,000 or $4,000 and so on, yet the maximum amount of money by law that can be charged out of pocket for any health insurance policy is $7,100 per calendar year. This is as of 2026, and most policies cap out at $6,000; therefore, getting charged $7,100 is quite high. Something you need to know, though.
You must consider keeping savings that align with a deductible or out of pocket maximum for all insurance plans to be able to use the insurance. As deductibles must be paid first, OOPM will become a factor with more extreme medical claims. Bills can arise and keeping $7,100 in emergency savings can be important when selecting a plan that has that OOPM coverage. So yes, yes please review your insurance often. This can make or break you at some point in your life and help you to understand how much you need to keep in your savings. When something happens to you, it is already traumatic. Let insurance not increase the trauma by finding out there isn’t good coverage.
Keep reviewing your insurance! The insurance company rolls out the red carpet for me when something happens for a reason! I keep even little insurance riders, that don’t cost much monthly, to prevent a serious emergency from becoming more serious. Let a local agent help you, too, and get you squared away.
