Insurance Policies Every Family Should Consider
Insurance policies can protect your family financially if an unexpected disaster strikes, helping reduce financial strain and losses in an instant. Learn which policies every family should have in place – life and home insurance being just two examples.
If any member of your household relies on you for income, life insurance policies are worth considering to cover estate taxes and end-of-life costs such as funeral costs.
Life Insurance
Most families rely on life insurance to replace lost income in the event of their primary breadwinner’s death, as well as to cover any burial or funeral costs or debts their family might owe upon their passing.
There are different kinds of policies, including level term and whole life policies. Term policies offer fixed policy face amounts for a set duration; whole life policies offer greater flexibility by accommodating riders such as guaranteed insurability or chronic illness coverage.
As these policies may last decades, it’s essential that the insurer you select has an outstanding track record and financial stability. Veralytic’s Policy Illustration Analysis helped us score companies on their ability to accurately predict cash values and death benefits.
Health Insurance
Health insurance is a form of non-life or general insurance policy designed to cover medical expenses and hospitalization. Health coverage is invaluable for families as it can ease financial strain associated with expensive healthcare treatment costs.
Consider plans that provide comprehensive coverage benefits, including maternity coverage and preventive healthcare services. Also look for plans with low deductibles and copays.
Portability should also be taken into consideration. Both individual and family health insurance policies can be transferred between employers, providing greater flexibility. Furthermore, this may offer tax advantages.
Auto Insurance
An auto insurance policy, commonly referred to as family car insurance policies, should cover all legal drivers in your household. As needs evolve over time, it is crucial that your policy evolves with them.
Age and driving record of household members can have an immense effect on insurance premiums. For instance, an incident involving your teenage driver could potentially raise rates across the board and impact all members of the household.
Family auto policies provide various advantages, such as bodily injury liability for you and your family when operating the insured vehicle, property damage liability coverage to cover other cars or property and uninsured motorist protection that reimburses them if injured by uninsured or hit-and-run drivers, among many others.
Home Insurance
Homeowners insurance (or house insurance as it’s more commonly known) protects your family’s biggest investment against unexpected disasters like fire and flood, as well as personal belongings like furniture, tech gadgets, clothes, bikes and kitchen appliances that might otherwise be lost to such events. Depending on your policy’s details, items lost can either be replaced or reimbursed depending on their cost of replacement or refunds may be issued depending on what was lost.
Many policies offer flexible coverage options that enable homeowners to add protection for specific items or adjust deductibles for optimal costs and premiums. Being loyal can pay off, as loyalty discounts can reduce rates for homeowners who stay with one insurer over time.
Verify that your policy includes a guaranteed replacement value clause, which covers the full costs associated with rebuilding your home should it be destroyed – even if this exceeds your insurance limits. Also look out for “loss of use” endorsements which cover expenses while your house is repaired or rebuilt.
Long-Term Disability Insurance
Disability insurance provides part of your income if you become disabled with an illness or injury that impedes on it, often from 1 – 3% of annual income as premiums. Long term policies usually cover an extended period, such as up until retirement age; and payment doesn’t change when purchased early on as health benefits will usually reduce costs as you age.
Individual policies can be purchased if your employer doesn’t offer group plans or you wish to supplement what’s already in place. They’re particularly suitable for small business owners, certified professional employees who get paid on commission, and other high-income wage earners; such coverage often provides benefits like family care coverage, income replacement and future cost of living adjustment.