4 Insurance Changes Every New Parent Needs to Know
You may have heard of the popular book, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” a pregnancy guide that helps new moms-to-be with navigating their nine months of pregnancy, but did you also expect you’d need new insurance after having a baby? When lost in the excitement of a growing family, remembering to take care of everyday tasks – like making changes to your insurance – can easily be overlooked. Whether it slipped your mind, or everyone else just neglected to tell you about updating your insurance or buying new coverage as a new, or soon-to-be new parent, here’s what you can learn and prepare for today.
Term Life Insurance
Now that someone else depends on you both physically and financially, it’s important to consider how your bundle of joy, or even your partner, will be affected if something happened to you. Without significant savings to support everyone, paying for living expenses, a mortgage, or other liabilities may be difficult. Even if you or your family have an existing life insurance policy, you’ll want to update or expand your policy’s coverage level to ensure they’re properly covered.
Health Insurance
As a new parent, you typically have a 30-day window to enroll your newborn child in a private health care plan. Or if you’d like to enroll or continue coverage through the federal or state Health Insurance Marketplace, you may qualify for a special election period, which allows you to get health insurance outside of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Open Enrollment period.
Homeowners or Renters Insurance
Having a baby almost always means a house full of new child-related purchases, like a car seat, crib, mattress, stroller, highchair, baby monitor, and more. Some of these big-ticket items can add up to thousands of dollars! Updating the value of your belongings on your homeowners or renters insurance policy can help protect you financially if your personal property was damaged due to a covered peril, like fire or theft. In turn, it can help offer peace of mind that you may not have to replace everything yourself out of pocket. Plus, as a homeowner, you may be eligible for a discount on your car insurance!
Disability Insurance
If a medical condition or life event causes you to become disabled and unable to work, disability coverage could help pay a part of your salary. While this insurance doesn’t typically rank high on people’s priority list, it’s important to consider how you would support yourself or your family if you fell ill, got hurt, or were unable to work for some other reason. And if you’re a woman who’s thinking about having (more) children, you may qualify for short-term disability while pregnant, or maternity leave.
If you’re looking for life insurance, health insurance, car insurance — or discounts on your auto insurance, Direct Auto Insurance has you covered! Our experienced agents will compare your options and help answer any insurance-related questions you may have. Call one of our friendly agents at 1-877-GO-DIRECT (1-877-463-4732) or stop by a Direct Auto Insurance location near you to get help finding the right policy for you and your family.
Related Information:
What is Term Life Insurance? [VIDEO]
