Think back to when you first arranged your insurance.
What did life look like?
Maybe you had just bought your first home. Your mortgage was at its highest, your children were young, or you had recently started a family.
Now think about where you are today.
Your income may have changed. Your mortgage might be smaller—or much bigger. Your children may be older. You may have changed jobs, started a business, married or separated.
Life changes constantly. But your insurance doesn't necessarily change with it.
That's why reviewing your cover from time to time is so important.
When Should You Review Your Insurance?
You don't necessarily need to review your insurance every time something small changes.
But there are some major life events that should prompt another look:
🏠 Buying a home or changing your mortgage
👶 Having children or growing your family
💼 Changing jobs or receiving a significant pay rise
💍 Getting married or combining finances
↔️ Separating or getting divorced
🎓 Children becoming financially independent
💰 Paying off a significant amount of debt
🏢 Starting or buying a business
Each of these events can change both how much cover you need and what you're actually trying to protect.
You Might Have Too Little Cover… Or Too Much
An insurance review doesn't always mean buying more insurance.
Imagine you arranged a large amount of Life Cover 15 years ago when you had a big mortgage and three young children.
Today, your mortgage might be considerably smaller and your children may be close to financially independent.
Do you still need the same amount of cover?
Possibly—but it's worth checking.
The opposite can happen too.
You might have arranged your insurance before having children, purchasing a larger home or increasing your household debt.
If something happened tomorrow, would the cover you arranged years ago still be enough for the life you have today?
Your Health Can Change Too
This is an important one.
As we get older, our medical history can change. Something that wasn't an issue when you first arranged your insurance could affect your options if you applied for a new policy today.
That's why you should be careful about simply cancelling an existing policy because you've found something cheaper elsewhere.
A new insurer may assess your health differently, which could result in exclusions, loadings or different terms.
Never cancel existing cover until you understand exactly what you're replacing it with.
Sometimes the best outcome from a review is actually keeping the policy you already have.
What About Policy Ownership?
This is another area that's easily forgotten.
Who actually owns your insurance policy?
Major changes such as marriage, separation, starting a business or changes within your family are a good opportunity to check how your policies are structured and who owns them.
You don't want to discover that something hasn't been updated when it's time to make a claim.
Try This Simple Insurance Check
Start by asking yourself three questions:
1. What insurance do I currently have?
2. What was I originally trying to protect when I took it out?
3. If something happened tomorrow, would that cover still achieve what I wanted it to?
If you're unsure about any of those answers, it might be time for a review.
A Review Doesn't Mean Starting Again
One of the biggest misconceptions about an insurance review is that it automatically means changing insurers or buying more cover.
It doesn't.
A review could result in increasing cover, reducing cover, restructuring benefits, adjusting an excess or simply confirming that what you already have is still appropriate.
Sometimes the best advice is to leave everything exactly as it is.
The important part is knowing why.
When Did You Last Review Yours?
Insurance isn't something that should be arranged once and forgotten about for the next 20 years.
Your life changes—and your financial protection should be checked along the way.
At NZ Advice Group, we can help you understand what you currently have, identify any potential gaps and determine whether your cover still makes sense for your circumstances today.
Our reviews are free, personalised and obligation-free.
If it's been a few years since you last looked at your insurance—or life has changed significantly since you arranged it—get in touch with our team.
Your insurance should protect the life you have today, not the life you had when you first took it out.