The household coverage review

First, inventory what you hold

For every policy — including anything through an employer — write down the insurer, what it covers, the limits, the deductible, the premium, and the renewal date.

For most people this step alone is revealing: coverage they'd forgotten, or something they were sure they had and don't.

Check the names on everything

• Primary beneficiaries current on every life policy
• Contingent beneficiaries named at all
• No ex-spouse still listed anywhere
• Group coverage through work naming the same people
• Everyone who drives listed on the auto policy

Check for gaps

• Liability limits that haven't moved as your assets have
• Coverage tied to a job you might not always hold
• A new dependent, driver, home, or renovation not yet reflected
• Life coverage sized to a mortgage balance that has changed
• Anything you assumed was covered but never confirmed

Check for duplication

Overlap is quietly expensive precisely because each instance is small.

• Roadside assistance on both an auto policy and an auto club membership
• Travel cover on a credit card and a standalone policy
• Rental car coverage duplicated across policies and cards
• Add-ons duplicating something a primary policy already includes

Then act on two things

Don't try to fix everything at once. Pick the largest gap and the largest duplication, handle those, and diary the rest for next year.

Two completed actions beat a fourteen-item list nobody returns to.