Gathering the Right Information for Insurance Coverage Can Generate Serious Savings

You need to keep your policy and all its associated documentation in your safety deposit box at your bank or a fireproof metal file at home where you keep all your important papers.

Original Proposal: Before you purchased your life insurance policy, your agent presented a proposal illustrating the projected performance of the policy. That proposal was more than likely part of your decision-making process in purchasing the policy. The original proposal should be kept with the policy.

Policy: When the policy was delivered, you had a “free look” offered to you and, depending upon what state you live in, you may have 20 to 30 days to consider whether you’ll keep the policy or not. Once you decide to keep the policy and pay the premium, your contract is in force.

Supporting Documents: Some policies are owned by or are beneficiaries of businesses, trusts or other third parties. Those supporting documents need to be kept with the policy and are necessary to review a policy for tax purposes or ownership changes that may need to be updated.

Annual Statement: Every year, you’ll receive an annual statement that outlines an overview of the policy’s premiums and cash values if it’s a permanent policy. It’s a basic summary and may not reflect the details of the policy’s performance.

In force Ledger: As a best practice item, you should order an in force ledger as part of your annual review of any cash value policy in order to determine its performance against the original proposal to make alterations, modifications or replacement. The in force ledger is the most important ongoing measurement of policy performance. Without it you cannot accurately assess the status of your contract.  

Scheduling an annual review with your agent will help you maintain the proper coverage and help manage the cost of your policy’s protection.