Have you gotten married or divorced?
Couples may well bring two cars into the relationship and two insurance companies, so see which company offers the best combination of price and service and dependability.
If you are merging two households, you may need to update your homeowners insurance. And you may want to consider increasing your insurance for any new valuables received as wedding gifts and for such jewelry as wedding and engagement rings.
After getting married, it is also important to review your life insurance needs. life insurance is an excellent way to ensure that the surviving spouse is taken care of in the event of the premature death of the other spouse.
If you got divorced, you will probably no longer be sharing a car and may move to a smaller home. You should inform your insurer, as this will mean setting up separate auto and homeowners policies.
Have you switched jobs or experienced a significant change in your salary?
If you had life insurance through your former employer, and your new employer does not provide equivalent protection, you can replace the "lost" coverage with an individual life insurance policy. In the case of a salary increase, you may have taken on additional financial commitments that your survivors will depend on. Make sure to review your life insurance program to ensure it is adequate to maintain those commitments.If your salary decreased, you may want to cut your life insurance premiums.
Fortunately, life insurance premiums in general have been dropping in price, so if you shop around, you may pay less for the protection. If you have two or more policies, you can combine the death benefit amounts into one policy to qualify for a lower rate because you may reach a "milestone" amount of insurance. (For example, at many companies, 500,000 of insurance costs less than $450,000 because of the "milestone" discount.) But don't drop existing life insurance until after you have a new policy in place.
Have you decided to buy a retirement or vacation home?
If you are searching for your dream vacation home or a second home you might retire to, make sure you research the availability and cost of homeowners insurance before you commit to the purchase.
Renting A vacation Home?
Often, the very factors that make a vacation home seem feasible are renting a home, Your landlord is responsible for insuring the structure of the building, but not for insuring your possessions; that is up to you. Nevertheless, nearly seven in 10 renters say they do not have renters insurance, despite the fact that, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, rented households are burglarized at rates about 50 percent higher than owned households. If you want to be covered against losses from theft and such catastrophes as fire, lightning and windstorm damage, you should invest in renters insurance. Like homeowners insurance, renters insurance includes liability, which covers your responsibility to other people injured at your home, or elsewhere by you, and pays legal defense costs if you are taken to court.
whether it is a waterfront property or a mountain retreat-- it can introduce risks that, together with the fact that the home is likely to be vacant much of the time, can make it costly and difficult to insure.
In the event you have already bought a vacation home, don't skimp on the insurance. The risk of theft or disaster is just as significant, if not more so, in a second home as in your primary residence.
Close To Water Or Flood Prone Area?
If your new property is close to the water, be sure to ask about flood insurance. Damage to your home or belongings resulting from flood is not covered under standard homeowners insurance policies. Flood insurance is available from the National Flood Insurance Program and is generally sold though private agents and brokers; it is also available from a few private insurers in certain states.