Two Hearts Become One: Marriage and Insurance- What to Do? - Wedding Article

Two Hearts Become One:  Marriage and Insurance - What to Do?

There have been countless  things to plan, you have got the rings, ordered flowers, set the menu for the reception, everything is finally in order for the big day. One thing that often is looked over when planning a marriage is the number of items that need to be changed or updated after you say ”I Do.” We use one of those things on a constant basis, whether it be driving home, visiting the doctor or going to the dentist ; your insurance.

While it is much more exciting to plan out your honeymoon or think about what you want to do with the house when you and your partner move in together,  making a plan for your insurances before the ceremony will save a lot of headaches and money down the road.  By moving plans together as a couple rather than as a single person generally gives a good amount of savings as insurance companies see married couples as being more responsible than those who are not and thus offer lower premiums.

Home Insurance

Once married, unless you are currently living with your partner, one of the two of you will be moving. Whichever person is moving from their house or apartment should make sure to end their policy.  If you plan to keep the old place and rent it out you should consider getting a landlord insurance policy , this allows for you to cover it with someone else renting it out, whereas homeowners insurance is for if you were to live there yourself.

It is also a good idea to contact the insurance company who you are using for the new home and let them know that  there will be another person moving in and change your status to married from single. This is important as you will be adding additional possessions to the house regardless of who moves and thus it may be necessary to increase the amount of coverage on the policy to make sure everything is covered.

Auto Insurance

One of the insurances that typically offer married couples lower premiums is auto insurance.  This is even more so the case for a young couple. Generally speaking young males are considered a higher risk than women of the same age and thus have higher premiums, however , once married the insurance group tends to give, discount auto insurance as you are deemed more responsible in their eyes. It also may save some additional money if one of you moves to the other's insurance group as they usually offer policy discounts for coverage of multiple vehicles. Check into both of your companies to find out which company provides the best coverage at the most affordable rates when adding someone else to the policy.

Life Insurance

Marriage is a very important point in everyone's lives and definitely a time to consider your future and that of your spouse. In this time life insurance may be something to consider if one or both of you are currently without a policy.  If you are a young couple, the odds are that initially your new family will have a pretty set budget and rely heavily on the income of both partners.  If you are a single income family it is even more important to consider some sort of policy in the event of tragedy to ensure financial protection.

There are a few choices when it comes to life insurance and picking between those is based on a few factors.  The types of policies can cover your entire life or a set period (term life). Term life is often the choice with younger couples as it is very affordable and will cover you during the volatile period of your lives when you are not as financially secure as you will be in the later portion of your lives. As with other insurances, many companies will offer a discount for getting several policies through their company. It is also important to look into your options in order to meet all of your needs at an affordable price.

Health Insurance

While it may be possible that no changes are needed regarding your health insurance coverage, the odds are that there are some adjustments that could be made.  If both you and your spouse have work policies, it would be a good idea to look into them and see how much is deducted from your check as well as how much it would cost to add your spouse onto the policy. After that is done, compare the figures and make the decision based on what suits your needs.

That would be the pristine situation and is not all that common that both members have a work based policy. If only one of you has a policy,  check to see if additional people can be added to the policy. This will cost more but most of the time will be discounted as you are adding someone else to a policy.

If it is not possible to add someone to the policy or neither of you have a policy in place then an individual medical insurance plan would be something to consider. Depending on a few factors , age and health status, these can be pretty affordable. Younger couples will have the benefit of cheaper coverage as typically they are healthy and thus have a lower cost to insure from the company's perspective. If you are younger, you may still be on a parent's policy, which is very likely to end as soon as you get married, and thus it is important to take this into consideration before the big day.

"I Now Pronounce You Husband and Wife...”

With all of this now out of the way, you can go into your wedding day with no worries about your insurance and security and go off on your lovely honeymoon.  When you return you will start to notice that you are paying less for your coverage than you had paid as a single person which will come in handy when dealing with your new joint budgets.

Barbara Waltz  wrote this article . Barbara is one of the founders of www.247QuoteUs.com an online resource blog and insurance quote comparison guide.

 

 

Submited by: Barbara Waltz