There is a natural progression to life. When we launch out on our own after achieving adulthood, most Texans don't start out with a lot. We all had that one apartment that we weren't sure was safe. We drove older cars that may not have always started. We scraped by sometimes wondering how we were going to eat. As we age, many of those things begin to change. Our employment situations improve, we have families, and we begin to actually accumulate assets. As this progression happens, if we are not reviewing our insurance we can develop gaps in our protection since our need for protection changes. When was the last time your actually sat down and reviewed what insurance you have and what you might need to protect? Do you have gaps in your protection?
Four Common Insurance Gaps That Texans Don't Think About
- Auto Insurance - Did you know approximately 20% of the drivers in Texas do not have auto insurance? What happens to you if one of those drivers causes a major accident that you are involved in? To close this gap, review your Uninsured/Under-insured Motorist coverage. If one of these drivers hit you, this insurance coverage will close this gap AND not create a surcharge on your future rates. It can replace your car and cover medical bills. Don't drop this coverage to save $5 a month!
- Home Insurance - As you accumulate items that have higher values like jewelry, guns, or art you may not think to disclose that to your insurance company. Many just assume that your Texas Home Insurance will just replace them if something happens to them. The problem comes with replacement of the full value of a wedding ring that is valued above $1,500. Many policies have sub-limits on how much you can make a claim for items like jewelry. To remove these limits on how much can be replaced, talk to your independent insurance agent about either raising the sub-limits or obtaining a personal articles floater.
- Life Insurance - Many households think that Life Insurance is only for the primary breadwinner of a family. While it is incredibly important to make sure that the primary income stream can be replaced if the unthinkable happens, the economic impact of a stay at home parent is overlooked. If you are left to be a single parent, how will you provide child care when you are at work? How will you manage transporting the kids to and from school? Who will do those items around the house? This can create a massive economic strain when you begin to think about replacing all of this activity. It's estimated that this cost could be $75,000 or more per year. Life Insurance can help bridge that gap to make sure that your house stays afloat while you adjust to this new life.
- Disability Insurance - The harsh reality of our society is that we often rely on two incomes for our households to function financially. What happens if one of you experiences a major illness and cannot work for three to six months? Statistics show that 26% of bankruptcies in the US are a result of medical bills and the wages that are lost in a major scenario. Disability Insurance can help cover those gaps so that your family does not have to experience this reality.
What Can You Do To Protect Your Family?
Insurance For Texans recommends reviewing your total insurance package every three to five years to make sure that you do not have gaps in protection. There are many other gaps that can be discovered, but this process will allow you to identify the four listed above along with other ones. If you experience a major life change like marriage, divorce, additional children, acquiring a new home, major promotions, etc; we recommend not waiting three to five years for a review! One of the biggest things that great Texans do is to make sure that their families are safe and sound from those things that can cause harm to them.
