You Must Make These Crucial Insurance Moves in 2024 to Avoid Financial Regrets

Not having the right insurance can be a huge disaster -- especially if the issue is not discovered until a problem occurs and a claim must be made. Without the right coverage in place from a trusted insurer, covering losses out of pocket could empty a bank account quickly.

To make sure an issue isn't overlooked until it's too late to fix, make these crucial moves in 2024.

1. Check your coverage to make sure you have enough

It's critical to make sure that the insurance coverage in place is sufficient to provide full protection for assets. Specifically, policyholders should consider:

• Coverage limits: Will the policy pay out enough to fully repair or replace any damaged property? For example, with home construction costs rising across the country, it may be necessary to increase policy limits on homeowners insurance to ensure that a house can be rebuilt as it stands in the event it's destroyed in a covered disaster.
• Types of coverage: It's also important to make sure the right kinds of coverage are in place. For example, a driver who now relies on their car to get to work every day may need to ensure they have rental car reimbursement as part of their auto insurance coverage so they'll have a vehicle to drive if theirs is damaged by an accident and out of commission for a while.

Every policyholder should do a review to make sure their assets are fully protected based on the kinds of losses they're covered against and the maximum payouts the insurer would provide.

2. Shop around and compare premiums

You should compare insurance premium costs each year for a few key reasons. For one thing, insurance offerings may have changed, so there may be a new, better, cheaper insurer out there.

Insurers also consider many factors in pricing coverage. One of those factors is whether the company thinks the policyholder is likely to shop around or not. If an insurer thinks a particular customer isn't likely to explore their options and potentially change to a different company, the insurer may charge that customer more. This is called price optimization.

The good news is, it's simple and quick to shop around and make sure that the price of insurance coverage is fair. Policyholders can do this online by getting quotes from a few different insurers.

3. Check your insurer's reputation

Finally, it's important to confirm there are no major issues with the insurer currently providing coverage. No policyholder wants to make a claim, only to learn that the company they have bought coverage from is slow to pay out claims, denies legitimate claims, or tries to lowball the amount it'll pay.

To find out if an insurer has a solid reputation for customer service or is known for causing problems, consumers should check Better Business Bureau reviews, J.D. Power customer satisfaction surveys, and the complaints database maintained by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. If you see a recurring theme of complaints, you may want to consider switching companies.

Policyholders who take these three steps can avoid major financial regrets. They'll make certain they have affordable insurance from a good insurer, and that they have the right level of coverage in place in case something goes wrong.