With policies like home insurance or car insurance, we’re all in the habit of reviewing our cover annually. With a life insurance policy potentially lasting for 20 or 30 years, it goes without saying that over that time, your lifestyle and therefore your cover requirements can change, sometimes substantially. Whenever you mark life’s important milestones, it makes good financial sense to reassess your protection needs.

Overlooking the need to revisit your protection policies over time could mean that your family wouldn’t have enough money to pay the mortgage or meet household bills if you were to die. A review is an opportunity, not only to assess your current cover needs, but also to consider newer plans that might be more appropriate to your circumstances and potentially more cost-effective.

Updating your cover as your life changes
Major life events can signal that your cover might need updating. If you’ve moved to a new house and taken on a bigger mortgage, you will need to review the sum assured (cover provided by the policy) to ensure that there won’t be a shortfall in the event of a claim.

Starting a family can be an overwhelming experience and it’s understandable that parents don’t automatically think about their life insurance needs at this exciting time. However, at this stage family expenditure is likely to increase and it’s often the time when parents should think about additional types of insurance cover.

Protection policies can provide not only a lump sum on death or the diagnosis of a critical illness, but also an income for families impacted by an accident, sickness and unemployment. They can also help parents pass their wealth on to future generations and play a major role in Inheritance Tax planning too.

Keeping your needs covered
Insurance is one of the most important financial products anyone can take out and one of the best ways of ensuring your family is provided for financially, if one of life’s unexpected and unwelcome events should happen.

As with all insurance policies, conditions and exclusions will apply