How often should I review my insurance policies?

Once a year at renewal is the minimum, and any time your life changes — a new home, car, child, job, or major purchase. Insurers quietly increase premiums and adjust coverage each renewal, so an annual check keeps you from paying more for less.

What is the biggest saving people find in an annual review?

Loyalty pricing. Long-standing customers are routinely charged 15–40% more than a new customer on the same policy. Getting three fresh quotes and asking your current insurer to match is the fastest win.

What happens if I don't review my policies?

You risk two things: paying for cover you don't need (duplicates across bank, credit card, and travel policies), and being underinsured on the things that matter (sum insured that hasn't kept up with rebuild costs or asset values).

Guide

Why you should review your insurance policies annually

Insurance is one of the few products you pay for every month and almost never open. Premiums drift up, coverage limits stay frozen, exclusions get quietly added at renewal, and the policy that was a great fit three years ago is now overpriced and under-covered. An annual review takes an hour and almost always pays for itself.

Want to skip the manual read-through? The Policy Review tool reads your PDS and schedule and flags gaps, duplicates, and unusual exclusions in a couple of minutes.

1. Outdated sums insured

Building rebuild costs and asset values have moved sharply. If the sum insured on your home hasn’t been re-indexed against current build rates, you may be underinsured by 20% or more — which triggers “average” clauses that cut a partial-loss payout proportionally. Check the sum insured against a current rebuild calculator and update it before renewal.

2. Silent premium creep

Renewal notices rarely say “we increased your premium by 18%” — they just show the new number. Pull last year’s renewal and compare line by line. If the excess, sum insured, and cover are identical but the premium is materially higher, you have leverage.

3. Duplicate cover

Travel insurance bundled into a credit card you already carry.
Portable contents on both home insurance and a standalone gadget policy.
Life or income protection through super and a retail policy.
Roadside assistance on the car policy and via the auto club.

Duplicates almost never pay out twice. Cancelling one side is a straight saving.

4. New exclusions and reduced limits

Insurers refresh the PDS every year. Flood, mould, escape of liquid, and cyber cover have all been narrowed on many home and business policies in the last few renewal cycles. Compare this year’s PDS to last year’s and note anything that moved from “included” to “optional endorsement”.

5. Life changes you never told the insurer

New driver on the household — or one who has moved out.
Renovations, a new roof, or an alarm system (all can lower home premium).
Working from home more than a few days a week (affects contents and business use).
Bought a bike, a piece of jewellery, or a laptop that exceeds single-item limits.
Changed jobs — occupational risk factors into life and income protection pricing.

6. Get three fresh quotes

Even if you plan to stay, three like-for-like quotes give you a real market benchmark. Bring the cheapest back to your current insurer and ask them to match. Retention teams have discretion the front-line quote engine does not.

A one-hour annual routine

Block an hour on your calendar for the month before your biggest policy renews. Pull each PDS and schedule, run them through a policy review, list the gaps and duplicates, and get three quotes on the two largest premiums. That’s the whole exercise — and it usually finds several hundred dollars of real savings and fixes a real gap in cover.

Run your annual review in minutes

Upload your policy documents and the Policy Review tool flags outdated sums insured, unusual exclusions, and duplicate cover — so your one-hour routine takes ten.

Try the Policy Review tool