When you are about to get married, there are a lot of things to consider. While you might be thinking about things like flower arrangements, wedding receptions, and vows, you might not be considering the important things that come after the wedding that you also need to think about. For instance, getting married can have an effect on your insurance. In many cases, you may be able to combine policies and save yourself some money in the long run on things like premiums. It is also a smart time for policies like life insurance to review and update your beneficiaries.
First things first, did you get an expensive engagement ring? It’s probably something that you will be wearing your entire life that will have some serious sentimental value. It’s important to protect this by including it on a scheduled personal property rider that you can add to your renters or homeowners insurance policy. It should be covered before it is given, but if it isn’t, then you need to make sure to add on that protection so that if something happens to it you will be able to have it replaced without having to pay out-of-pocket.
After you get married and the two of you are living together, it makes sense to insure all of your personal belongings like clothes, electronics, furniture, etc. on a single insurance policy. If you both have separate policies before you move in together than you can easily drop one of them. After you get rid of one policy then your spouse will automatically be covered on the other one. However, it is important to review the limits on the policy that exists to determine whether or not you need to make adjustments to it now that you live together. Things like your personal property coverage may need to be increased to help make sure your now-combined belongings are insured.
If both of you have a good driving record, it could be beneficial to shift to a single car insurance policy instead of two separate ones. This may earn you a multi-car discount, depending on where you live. An agent can review the policies that you have and help make sense of if combining your policies would be a good idea or not.
You should bundle up your policies if you can. Buying different kinds of insurance from the same company is often a money-saver. If you and your partner have insurance from two different companies, you should consider having them bundled into one company to what makes the most sense for your budget.
You merge basically all aspects of your life together when you get married, which includes merging your financial lives too. If you depend on each other to get the bills paid, or even if just one spouse depends on the other, it may be a good idea to consider getting life insurance policies. The least expensive time to buy life insurance is when you and young and healthy, but not everyone takes advantage of this. You have probably seen things before about people who died and left their families needing financial help. Believe me, you don’t want to be one of them. It’s also important to review your life insurance policy if you have one in place already. After you’re married, you probably want to make your new spouse your beneficiary in place of who was there before.
Resources:
https://www.allstate.com/tools-and-resources/insurance-basics/ask-agent-rogers-getting-married.aspx