What to Know About Changing Your Insurance Coverage
Have you just heard about a great new insurance rate from a quippy TV commercial? Maybe you had a bad experience with one provider and want to see what else is out there. Or maybe your life circumstances have changed, and you want to make sure your insurance is still right for you.
Whatever the reason, it can be daunting to think about changing your insurance coverage. How complicated is the process? How long does it take?
Many people hesitate to switch their policies because they worry it’ll be a drawn-out hassle — but thankfully, that’s usually not the case.
Here’s the lowdown on changing your insurance coverage.
It’s usually simple to change your coverage details mid-policy
Your family’s insurance needs can change overnight. It’s expected that you’ll need to adjust your coverage at some point. Insurance providers want you to stay with them, so they make it easy to switch your coverage details mid-policy.
Usually, all it takes is a quick call to your agent to get your new coverage ironed out. It’s no problem to add vehicles to your car insurance, adjust your monthly mileage estimates, or even increase the protection of your home insurance policy.
There are a few things that might require you to cancel your current policy to write a new one from scratch, though:
- Moving to another state
- Adding extra coverage that can be restricted, like accident forgiveness
- Other one-off situations
Give your agent a call with any questions you have, and in no time you’ll be all set with updated protection.
Switching insurance providers is a bit more complicated — but still straightforward
If you want to change your actual insurance carrier and not just your policy details, you’ll have to do a little more than just a phone call — but even then, the process is pretty simple.
People switch providers for a lot of reasons. Sometimes you can get a better rate through a different carrier, sometimes you move and a hyper-local company doesn’t make sense anymore, or sometimes you’ve had a bad experience and want to start fresh.
It’s not quite as common as adjusting your coverage mid-policy, but it’s still a routine occurrence. The process usually looks something like this:
Fill out an application for the new policy you want.
This is pretty straightforward. Just enter your personal information and other requested details, and you’ll be good to go.
Review your current policy to understand any coverage differences you’ll be experiencing once you switch over.
It can be helpful to go through this with another person, like an independent agent, to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Contact your current insurance provider to tell them you’d like to terminate your policy.
The language of your policy should have a provision for cancellation that lets you know what you need to do. Most carriers will want to receive notice in writing, but some will accept it over the phone.
Don’t feel bad or embarrassed about switching to someone new — it’s completely your right to change providers if you aren’t satisfied! Insurance companies deal with this on a daily basis, and we promise it’s no big deal.
Make sure the start date of your new policy is exactly the end date of your old policy.
This way you won’t have any lapses in coverage — being uninsured for even a few hours is a risk you don’t want to take!
An independent agent can make the process even easier
Here’s the really good news: Working with an independent insurance agency can make it even easier to change your insurance coverage. You can keep your same agent who already knows your family even as you switch up policy details and providers. And the best part? They’ll handle all the setup work for you!
If you’re interested in getting the advantage of an independent insurance agency, we’d love to talk to you. Give us a call to get started — we’re here for you every step of the way.
