Why your insurance broker NEEDS to know you have moved

I recently processed with a death claim :( and we were having a hard time trying to find the beneficiaries dedicated to the policy.

Even harder on the case, that was a group coverage - meaning, we don’t usually personally know the employees in the company as everything was set up either through the owner or the human resources department. 

The fact that when people move, they all let their bank, the car insurance carriers, the credit card companies know they have moved, but they often forget or sometimes, even neglect to let their insurance brokers know they have moved. 

Another big issue is that there is only a name and relationship to the client when we fill out the beneficiary section on the life insurance application, how do we suppose to know where or how to get in touch with the beneficiaries when in need?! Sometimes, the beneficiaries might not even know they were named beneficiaries!

Please make sure you let your financial advisor or insurance broker knows HOW to find your beneficiaries and when you change your beneficiaries on your policies, give out their contact information as well. Having only a name is not sufficient enough most of the time. If you really want the amount you leave behind can do what it is supposed to do, please make sure it gets there. 

A lot of times, family members might not even know what insurance coverage the deceased had. We (financial advisors) sometimes advise the family of the deceased to go through the bank account transactions to find out if there is any insurance premium payments, the tricky thing is that - there are many plans we can set up to be paid up at a certain period of time or when the premium is being paid annually, there might not be (or no longer) have any transactions related to the policies. That’s why it is important to have a financial record on yourself in case you disappeared yesterday, people would know what you have and properly close off your account and take care of things the way you want it. 

When we get to this, of course, getting a will done is extremely important as well. Updating your will can be crucial too! 

Financial issues are NOT the most interesting thing to deal with (except for investing for a lot of people), but investing is only a part of it!

Get yourself well prepared for anything throws at you and your family!!!!

*Original posted at https://www.trufinancial.ca/content/why-your-insurance-broker-needs-know-you-have-moved