Looking Over Your Policy Renewal
When you receive your insurance policy renewal, what do you do with it? Do you take the time to look it over, and see what has changed or stayed the same? Do you compare it to the previous year? Or do you just look at the total premium, pay the bill, and throw it in the drawer with everything else?
Ideally, the right answer is a combination of the first two.
Here is what to look for when you receive your insurance policy renewal:
No matter the line of business, an insurance policy can be very intimidating. It is often filled with seemingly nonsense pages of endorsements, forms, and exclusions. All of this is probably enough reading material to last you until you receive next year’s renewal.
Declarations page
However, the most important pages to look for are called the declarations pages.
Your policy’s declarations pages state what is covered, for how much, and what premium/deductible is applied to each coverage. The coverages and deductibles shown on each auto-renewal will be the same unless you make a change.
As for homeowners’ insurance, there is most likely an inflation guard on the coverage of your home – the coverage will increase each renewal to protect against inflation.
Premium
The component that tends to fluctuate for all types of insurance is the premium. Many different factors influence a premium going up or down. If there is a significant increase/decrease in your premium and you are unsure why you may want to discuss this with your CRG agent.
Additions
Also on the declarations pages, can be things such as who in the household is listed as a driver, what you use your vehicles for, any added endorsement coverages, and if you have a mortgage/loan listed on your home/car. If any of these listings are incorrect, contact your agent to get them corrected right away.*
If you have your home insurance payments set up to escrow through your mortgage company, be sure on each renewal your mortgage is listed correctly and with the correct address. An incorrectly listed mortgage that is escrowed can result in late payments, which could risk a cancellation.
To avoid all of this, if you refinance be sure to let your insurance agent know, and verify the correct listing on each renewal received.
Commercial insurance
For business owners, thoroughly looking through your renewal is very important as well. If you have any certificate holders that request updates upon each renewal, be sure to facilitate communications with your agent to satisfy their needs.
Having multiple lines of business insured can be a lot to keep track of, but keep in mind that your agent is verifying the details of each renewal to make sure everything is in order.
If you didn’t already know what to look for in your insurance policy renewal, hopefully, you have a general understanding now.
How we can help
As always, your CRG agent is here to answer any questions you have. Insurance can be a confusing topic, but having an independent agent on your side is a valuable asset to have.
If you know of someone who would benefit from our services, please forward this to them!
*Every insurance company has a different system when sending out renewals. The things that are covered aren’t necessarily listed on the renewal. Be sure to direct any questions to your agent.
