During the lazy, hazy days of summer, the world seems to run at a slower pace, leaving most of us with a little extra free time. One of the best things to do with some of that time is to have a mid-year financial checkup.
This time of year, most financial experts, such as accountants and investment advisers, are between their busy seasons, leaving them free to spend more time helping their clients with tax planning and balancing their investment portfolios.
While most individuals and small business owners understand the importance of having their personal finances regularly evaluated, many of them overlook a key component of their overall economic health – their insurance coverage.
To help gain an understanding of the importance of an annual insurance review, we reached out to local Country Financial insurance agent, William Styles. William recently moved to Hendersonville from his native North Carolina to open the local Country Financial office. He is a graduate of Western Carolina University, and has over nine years of personal and business insurance experience.
“Too often, insurance is one of those things that you purchase and then forget about,” says William. “Over time, life happens – marriage, divorce, children, accumulation of wealth. Furthermore, laws and underwriting guidelines change regularly. Failure to account for changes in personal and business status can cause significant problems such as underinsurance and incorrect beneficiaries.”
When preparing to meet with your insurer to review your coverage, William recommends keeping the following things in mind.
1. Personal Auto Policy Liability Limits
Automobile policy limits are usually defined using a series of three numbers, such as 100 – 300 – 50. The first number indicates the per person bodily injury coverage, $100,000. The second number indicates the per accident bodily injury coverage, $300,000. The final number defines the amount of at-fault property damage coverage, $50,000. If any claims against you or your estate exceed those limits, you are liable for the rest.
2. Homeowners Policy Liability Limits
Like automobile policies, homeowners’ policies also have coverage limits. If policy limits aren’t increased as circumstances change, e.g. growth in personal assets or appreciation of home values, then homeowners could find themselves inadequately insured and overly exposed to personal losses.
3. Umbrella Policies
Umbrella policies can help address coverage limit gaps of auto and homeowners’ policies by adding in an extra layer of overarching coverage. These policies provide additional protection for little added cost.
4. Policy Endorsements
Policy endorsements are riders that can be added or removed from insurance policies on demand. Endorsements can be used to cover such things as loss of food kept in freezers, sump pump failures and damages from city water and sewer line backups.
5. Life Insurance Beneficiaries
Circumstances often change over the term of life insurance policies. For example, a man may make his wife the beneficiary of his life insurance policy, but fail to change it when he gets divorced and remarried. Upon his passing, his first wife would get the proceeds of the insurance instead of his current wife, regardless of his will since life insurance beneficiaries bypass the estate.
William Styles
Country Financial
174 Saundersville Road, Suite 104,
Hendersonville
615.824.7020
william.styles@countryfinancial.com