Getting insurance sorted can feel like one of those jobs you’re very happy to tick off the list.
But life rarely stays exactly the same.
You buy a house. Have a baby. Change jobs. Get a pay rise. Start working for yourself. Your mortgage gets bigger (or smaller). And somewhere in the background, the insurance you arranged a few years ago keeps ticking along.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you need more insurance. But it can be worth checking whether the cover you have still protects the things your family relies on most.
Here are five times we think it’s worth having another look.
1. You’ve bought a house or changed your mortgage
A mortgage is often one of the biggest financial commitments a family takes on.
If you’ve recently bought a home, moved house, refinanced or significantly changed the size of your mortgage, it’s worth checking whether your existing cover still makes sense.
That might mean looking at your life insurance, income protection or mortgage protection and asking a simple question:
If something happened to one of our incomes, could we still afford the life we’ve built?
The answer doesn’t always mean increasing your cover. Sometimes it’s simply about understanding what you already have.
2. You’ve had a baby
Having a child can change the financial picture quite dramatically.
There may now be another person relying on your income, one parent may be working fewer hours, childcare costs might have appeared and your household expenses may look completely different.
This is a good time to review things like life insurance, income protection and trauma cover.
It’s also worth thinking beyond the main income earner. If a stay-at-home or part-time parent became seriously ill, for example, replacing the unpaid work they do, childcare, school runs and everything else that keeps a household going, can come with a very real cost.
3. Your income or job has changed
A promotion, career change or significant pay rise can be good reasons to revisit your insurance.
If your family now relies on a higher income than when you originally arranged your cover, your income protection or life insurance may no longer reflect your current situation.
A job change can matter too. Different occupations can affect how some policies work, so it’s worth letting your adviser know when your work changes significantly.
And if you’ve moved into self-employment, a review becomes even more important.
4. You’ve become self-employed
Going from employment to running your own business can change your financial safety net.
Paid sick leave and other employee benefits may disappear, while your household, and potentially your business, could become more dependent on your ability to work.
This is where understanding your income protection and other personal cover becomes particularly important.
It’s not necessarily about adding more policies. It’s about making sure the cover you have still matches how you now earn your income.
5. Your premiums have increased
Insurance premiums can change over time, and lately many families have been feeling those increases.
If your insurance is becoming difficult to justify each month, cancelling everything doesn’t have to be the first option.
There may be ways to restructure your cover, change benefit levels, adjust excesses or prioritise the protection that matters most to your family.
This is one of the biggest reasons we recommend reviewing insurance rather than simply setting it up and forgetting about it.
A review doesn’t mean buying more insurance
This is probably the most important point.
When we review someone’s insurance, the goal isn’t automatically to find more cover for them.
Sometimes people need more. Sometimes their priorities have changed. And sometimes we find they’re paying for cover that no longer makes as much sense as it once did.
The starting point is simply:
What does your family rely on now, and would your existing insurance protect it if something went wrong?
If your life looks quite different from when you originally arranged your insurance, it might be worth checking.
At Canvas Insurance, we help New Zealand families review their existing life, health, income, trauma and mortgage protection insurance and understand what they actually have, in plain English.
You can get in touch with us for an insurance review, even if your existing policies were originally arranged somewhere else.
FAQs
How often should I review my insurance?
There isn’t one rule for everyone, but major life changes are a good trigger. Buying a house, having children, changing jobs, becoming self-employed or experiencing a significant change in income are all sensible times to review your cover.
Do I have to change insurance providers when I review my cover?
No. A review doesn’t automatically mean replacing your existing policies. In some cases, keeping existing cover can be particularly important because your health or circumstances may have changed since you first applied.
Can an insurance broker review policies arranged somewhere else?
Yes. An insurance adviser can look at existing policies and help you understand how they fit your current circumstances before recommending whether anything should change.
What if my insurance is getting too expensive?
Before cancelling cover, it’s worth reviewing your options. Depending on your policies and circumstances, there may be ways to change the structure, benefits or excesses to make your insurance more manageable while keeping protection where you need it most.
What types of insurance should I review after a major life change?
That depends on what has changed. Life insurance, income protection, mortgage protection, trauma insurance and health insurance can all be worth reviewing at different stages of life. The important part is understanding which risks would have the biggest financial impact on your household.
