5 common insurance mistakes

Insurance is one of those things you shouldn’t wait to find out just how important it is before you buy. But when it comes to getting proper insurance, there’s usually confusion. Avoidable mistakes tend to happen when it comes to protecting yourself, your family, business and future income.

Insurance is protection from financial loss; it’s a form of managing risks against negative contingencies; you can say it’s about giving yourself peace of mind knowing your essentials are protected. So if you have a lot of valuables, your insurance plans should be in place to protect these assets and finances as you need it to, because a simple mistake can really affect you financially and otherwise.
To help you keep from losing your cool when it’s time to put an insurance plan in place, kindly ensure you avoid these before, during and after you make an insurance purchase.

1. Waiting Too Long To Purchase
No one knows when disaster strikes, it could suddenly or never will; life is sure full of uncertainties. Don’t wait till life happens, get your “stuff” together and put your house in order. Buying sooner rather than later can save you money, while dragging your feet and waiting until later could affect your ability to obtain the amount of insurance you really need as cost of living keeps rising with each tick of the clock. So, the earlier you purchase an insurance plan, the sooner you can worry less.

2. Not Knowing The Amount of Coverage You Need
With insurance, people normally have issues with the exact type and amount of cover needed, whether it’s in an attempt to save cost by taking some necessary plans off or being carried away with the prospects of insurance and spending on needless policies. Be sure that you are knowledgeable about the coverage you need, calculate the meaningfulness of protecting your assets or valuables so you know the amount of premium needed to cover it/them if loss occurs.

3. Thinking That You Can’t Afford Insurance
In reality, Insurance is designed to provide you with coverage for a specific length of time, at an affordable cost. Typically, you only have to pay for a term and renew after your initial term expires, however, subscribing to a long term insurance plan, lowers additional costs on term renewal. In the long run, purchasing a longer term policy will better your chances at saving cost. The best thing about insurance is that it offers organizations affordable coverage [at times opportunities to pay in instalments]; while individuals with different income levels, have the ability to obtain affordable coverage when they need it most, as they may have many financial responsibilities, with includes debts.

4. Failing to secure continuity by having Beneficiaries
As a bonus feature, some type of insurance covers, allows for transfer of beneficiaries of your choice. This makes it important for you to include primary and contingent beneficiaries in such an insurance subscription. Having “back-up” beneficiaries protects your investment, ensures continuity as policy proceeds will go to the listed beneficiary in your absence, coupled with the relief of not waiting too long to get the insurance claim. So, don’t neglect to keep your beneficiary designations updated and your documents safe. Major life events like marriage, demise of a loved one or even divorce make it important to regularly review your beneficiary designations periodically.

5. Buying Insurance Without First Doing Research
Understanding the insurance lingo and knowing the questions to ask before you buy, empowers you to choose the right type of insurance plan to meet your needs. If something doesn’t make sense during your research, reach out to an insurance broker for help. Nowadays, you can find just about all the information online that will advise you on insurance providers, help you understand the variety of products available, know the proper insurance company to choose, compare insurance policies and prices which fits your monthly budget best. If you don’t have a broker yet, CompareIn is more than glad to help.