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If there’s one thing to look forward to during the warmer months, it’s summer travel. Beach days, week-long RV road trips, and even the occasional stint overseas to a new country. While these can all be times to let loose and enjoy yourself, it’s also important to be prepared – and that starts long before the trip begins.
One thing that often gets forgotten is updating policies before heading out, including your life insurance policy. Regardless of your destination, check out these three reasons it may be time to update your policy – especially before traveling.
1. Ensure Your Personal Information is Up to Date
It’s super important to make sure that all the necessary information on your policy is correct. That means updating contact information, ensuring the listed beneficiaries are up-to-date and selecting an appropriate benefit payout.
This process should be relatively easy because it can be done online or over the phone. So, as long as everything has stayed pretty much the same, you’ll only need to make slight adjustments based on small changes like a beneficiary’s new address or a new phone number for contact.
Arranging all of this ahead of time can save you and your loved ones a major headache, especially when accessing living benefits.
2. Inform Your Life Insurance Company that Your Traveling
Most life insurance companies won’t have an issue with policy payout, even if you’re traveling abroad. However, if you travel a lot for work and don’t disclose that during the application process, the insurance company may render the policy ineffective and refuse to payout benefits.
When a life insurance company asks you all of the questions about occupation, hobbies, and financials, they’re doing so to assess your risk. Failure to disclose frequent traveling abroad – especially to particularly risky places – can lead to a null of the life insurance policy due to improper coverage from the beginning.
If traveling is a new reality for your lifestyle, don’t be afraid to speak with your policy provider to discuss how the change may affect your pre-existing policy. In most cases, paying a higher premium can be worthwhile when the alternative is a refusal to pay to loved ones.
3. You Didn’t Disclose Your Intent to Travel on the Application
When filling out your life insurance application, you often need to disclose any upcoming trips that you’re planning on taking. Whether you forgot about the trip or neglected to write it, it’s important to go back and update the policy.
These questions are all asked for a reason, and failure to answer truthfully will make the policy ineffective. Update your policy with any travel plans that increase your risk, so the company is aware. They may ask questions about where you are going, why, the purpose of the trip, how long you’ll be going, and more.
The Difference Between Life Insurance and Travel Insurance
You may be asking yourself why you need to update your life insurance policy when travel insurance exists. The truth is, these two insurance types, though helpful, are not the same.
Life insurance: Life insurance offers coverage for a longer period of time, anywhere from ten years to the rest of your life.
Travel insurance: Travel insurance is a short-term option covering specific trips and events like canceled flights or injuries. Rarely does a travel insurance policy cover death. This leaves your life insurance policy as the only benefit for loved ones to use as needed in your absence.
The Bottom Line
Travel can be exciting, but it’s important to be prepared. When ironing out the details for your summer getaway or winter retreat, don’t forget to update any insurance policies you have to ensure coverage. Peace of mind, especially when abroad, is priceless.