Change of circumstance insurance review

Our lives change, our business changes, and sometimes our needs change.

Insurance is often one of those things that we set and forget.

We get our initial policy then every year we get a renewal letter and often we just pay it, file it and move on. Until the next year when it comes around again… and we do the same, pay it, file it, and move on.  After all, we are busy, and we ticked the insurance box when we bought the policy right?

Not necessarily…

You should be checking in on your policy on a regular basis to ensure it still suits your current needs and to address any change in circumstances.

What do we mean by change of circumstances?

A change of circumstances may mean the insurance you have in place is no longer current, inadequate, or excluded from coverage. It may be that your circumstances change in a way that means your risk is reduced and you’re paying too much, or that your risk is increased, and you’re exposed to uninsured losses.

Examples might be:

• Added renovations or made other changes to your home meaning the value and cost to replace has changed.
• You have purchased significant pieces of jewellery or art that need to be added to your policy.
• You have increased the value of your contents. It is amazing how quickly it adds up when you are buying new appliances, tech, and décor… just think if you lost the lot, how much would it cost to replace… you would be surprised.
• The value of your property has changed which impacts the cost to rebuild or replace it… right now post COVID, we are seeing a large increase in costs to rebuild and if a repair is required this is taking a lot longer to complete.
• You have moved and garage address for your car has changed.
• If you run a business, you have changed to do other services not previously advised – we know how much a lot of us have had to pivot post-COVID.

Being mindful of your changing circumstances will help you to ascertain if your current coverage needs to change. Talk to your broker about any changes so they can review your insurance and ensure your policies remain relevant. It’s advisable to review your insurance regularly – at the very least annually – because changes may have taken place that alter your risk profile, and the policies available to cover your risks may also have changed.

If you want to review your existing cover, please contact your local Rivers Insurance broker.