Review Your Insurance Portfolio
Most Indians buy insurance once and forget about it for 20 years. They pay the annual renewal premium because the agent calls or the bank sends a renewal notice, but they never sit down and systematically review whether their current insurance coverage still makes sense for their current life situation. Life changes dramatically over a decade — income doubles or triples, a home loan is added, children arrive, parents age and need coverage, health conditions develop, career changes alter income stability. None of these changes automatically update your insurance coverage. Only a deliberate annual review does. This guide gives you a systematic, complete annual insurance review process that takes 2 to 3 hours once a year and ensures you are never over-insured, under-insured, or wrongly insured.
When to Conduct the Annual Review
Choose a consistent annual review date — the same time every year so it becomes a reliable financial habit. Good anchor dates are the first week of April (start of the financial year, when new tax planning begins and insurance renewal decisions can be made together with tax strategy), or December-January (before the investment proof submission deadline for salaried employees, allowing insurance decisions to inform tax filings). If you have a spouse, conduct the review together — both people’s insurance coverage should be reviewed as a family system.
Step 1 — Inventory All Existing Policies
The first step of any review is knowing what you have. Create a master list of every insurance policy the family holds — life insurance, health insurance, motor insurance, home insurance, personal accident insurance, travel insurance, and any others. For each policy, record: insurer name, policy number, type of policy, sum assured or sum insured, annual premium, renewal date, and nominee name. This inventory may reveal surprises — old policies forgotten about, duplicate coverage in some areas and gaps in others, or policies where nominee details are outdated. The inventory itself is valuable regardless of any other action taken.
Step 2 — Review Life Insurance Coverage Adequacy
Calculate your current required life insurance coverage using the comprehensive method: 15 times annual income, plus all outstanding loan balances, plus future financial goals not yet funded (children’s education, retirement corpus gap), minus any existing liquid assets that could serve as family support. Compare this calculated requirement to your current total life insurance coverage across all active policies. If coverage is insufficient, this triggers the need to buy additional term insurance. If life circumstances have changed — income has grown significantly, home loan is repaid, children are now financially independent — the review may reveal that current coverage is now more than adequate. Do not reflexively add more insurance without this calculation.
Step 3 — Review Health Insurance Coverage and Features
Review each health insurance policy for: whether the sum insured is still adequate given medical cost inflation (add at least 10-15% to required coverage each year, or a specific increase based on actual healthcare costs in your city), whether your preferred hospitals are still in the cashless network (hospitals join and leave insurer networks periodically), whether your current plan’s features still match your needs (did you add a new family member who needs coverage, or do parents now need separate senior coverage), whether a better plan at similar premium is now available (the health insurance market launches new products regularly, and porting can move you to better features without losing waiting period benefits).
Step 4 — Review Term Policy Renewals and Continuity
For annual premium term plans, confirm the renewal is set up — either auto-debit or the renewal premium is paid before the renewal date. For limited premium payment term plans, confirm how many years of premium remain and whether the payment schedule is on track. Verify that nominee details are current — update if there have been family changes (marriage, children, deaths).
Step 5 — Review Motor Insurance
Motor insurance for both car and bike should be renewed before expiry. The review should determine whether the IDV offered at renewal is accurate (compare with the actual market value of the vehicle), whether the same add-ons are still appropriate (Zero Dep may not be available for a car above 5 years old), whether switching insurers at renewal could save premium (comparison on platforms takes 10 minutes), and whether your NCB is correctly reflected in the renewal quote.
Step 6 — Review Nominee Details Across All Policies
Go through every policy in your inventory and verify nominee name, relationship, and contact details are current. Life events that should trigger nominee review: marriage, divorce, birth of child, death of named nominee, significant change in family financial dependency. Update nomination through the insurer’s formal process — do not assume a verbal instruction to an agent is sufficient.
Step 7 — Review Premium Payments and Tax Deductions
Compile a list of all insurance premiums paid during the financial year for tax purposes. Life insurance premiums (up to ₹1.5 lakh under Section 80C) and health insurance premiums (up to applicable limits under Section 80D) are tax-deductible. Verify that payment receipts are available for all premiums — insurers provide electronic receipts and consolidated tax statements. Check that premiums were paid through non-cash modes (digital/cheque) for 80D eligibility.
Step 8 — Identify Coverage Gaps and New Needs
After reviewing existing coverage, identify gaps that need to be filled. Common gaps discovered in Indian family insurance reviews: no personal accident insurance despite being the primary income earner, parents above 60 without any health insurance, home without structure and contents insurance, no travel insurance purchased before international trips, business owner without any business continuation insurance, and no critical illness cover for a family member in a high-risk health category.
Step 9 — Evaluate Policies for Continuity or Exit Decisions
For each traditional or ULIP policy, evaluate whether continuing it to maturity or exiting (surrendering or making paid-up) is financially optimal. For policies in their early years — less than 5 to 7 years old — continuing is almost always better than surrendering due to heavy early-period charges and low surrender value. For policies nearing maturity — 3 to 5 years before maturity date — holding to maturity captures the full benefit including FAB for traditional plans. For mid-term traditional policies where surrender value now approximates premiums paid, a detailed IRR calculation compared to alternative investment returns is warranted.
Step 10 — Document and Implement
After completing the review, document the decisions made: what to renew unchanged, what to update (nominees, sum insured, add-ons), what new policies to buy, and what old policies to exit. Implement all decisions before the review session ends or set specific deadlines (one week maximum) for each action. Update the master insurance inventory with any changes. Store the updated inventory document in a location accessible to your spouse and nominated family member.
The One-Page Annual Insurance Summary
Create and maintain a one-page insurance summary that lists all policies with key details — a document your family can access in an emergency to know exactly what insurance exists and how to claim it. Include the insurer’s 24-hour claims helpline for each policy. This one-page document should be kept physically in the home (not just digitally) and shared with the nominee and at least one other trusted family member. Update it during each annual review.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I review insurance my company provides? Is employer group insurance enough? Review the employer group health insurance certificate or policy document provided by HR. Check the sum insured, the cashless hospital network, whether family members are covered, and whether parents are included. Determine whether the employer’s coverage is adequate for your family’s needs or whether supplementary personal health insurance is needed. Remember: employer group insurance ends when employment ends — ensure you have a personal plan in place before any potential job change. For life insurance, check if the employer provides group life insurance (typically 3-5 times salary). Compare this to your calculated life insurance need — the gap between the employer’s group cover and your total requirement must be filled with personal term insurance.
I discovered an old LIC policy my parents took for me 25 years ago that is approaching maturity. What should I do? Contact LIC with the policy number, original policy document, and your current KYC documents. LIC will verify the policy status and confirm the maturity date. Approximately 3 months before maturity, LIC typically sends a maturity intimation letter to the registered address with instructions for receiving the payment. Ensure your current bank account details are registered with LIC for NEFT payment of the maturity proceeds. If the policy address is outdated (your parents’ old address), update it by visiting the servicing LIC branch with ID proof. Also check whether the policy has accumulated any unpaid bonuses or final additional bonus that will be included in the maturity payment — the LIC branch can provide a maturity benefit projection.
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