Bought the wrong Insurance plan(s)? Here are 3 Steps you need to bounce right back

Mistakes happen.

All the time. Just google “Chinese Spy Balloon over USA” if you happen to have cut off contact with the outside world for the past week or so.

Balloon, meet F22 Raptor

Regardless of where your geopolitical inclinations lie, we can all agree the whole matter was a mistake and could have the potential to be settled amicably, or escalate into something far worse.

Same for your insurance.

You could have bought something in the past without too much scrutiny, and how its looking like more and more of a mistake. A mistake that you want to handle, before it blows up in your face, just like a spy/weather balloon.

Maybe it was a term plan that focused too little on critical illness cover.

Maybe it was a whole life plan that provided too little death cover for what you require.

Maybe it was an investment linked plan that stretches on too long for your particular time horizon.

Maybe it was an integrated shield plan that doesn’t cover the right ward suitable for your budget.

Don’t sweat it – you are far more in control of the situation than you think.

Here’s the 3 steps you need to take.

Step 1: Determine clearly what plan is it, and what does it do for you

The rectification journey starts with some sluething around.

Dig up any long lost policy documents / emails that you can find, your first job is to understand clearly what this (mistakenly bought) plan is, and what it actually does for you.

Is it a term plan? Whole life plan? Investment linked plan? Integrated Shield? Careshield supplement?

What does it cover? Death? TPD? Critical Illness? Hospitalization? Long Term Care? Disability Income?

How much does it cover? For how long?

And finally, how much is it costing you? (In terms of annual premiums)

Step 2: Understand what protection you actually need, and your options on hand

Granted that it possibly been years since the purchase was made, and your needs may have changed since then. Your second step is to identify what you really need right now:

Is it more death cover? Or less of it? (ditto for TPD, CI, Long Term Care etc)
Is it a longer or shorter period of coverage?
Is it a different type of coverage needed?
Has your time horizon changed (for savings, investment, or protection)
Has your risk appetite increased or decreased?

Once you have undergone this mental (and psychological) exercise, you are in a far better position to understand what the plan gives you, and what you truly need.

Often the two spheres may still have some overlap, but it may not be sufficient enough to your liking.

Thats when you can think about your options on hand:

1. It may be possible to change the plan to something else altogether
2. It may be possible to increase or decrease the coverage (decreasing is alot more likely and feasible if you want to keep the plan)
3. It may be possible to just cancel it altogether, if it does not make financial sense.
4. Most importantly, it may just make sense to keep it. Especially if you realized that it might not be a big mistake after all.

Step 3: Speak with your trusted Financial Advisor

Finally, you knew it still came down to this.

Once you have done your homework in steps 1 and 2, its time to call in the professionals.

Why not skip directly to step 3, you ask?

Well for one, we are a big fan of people that do their homework. And more importantly, once you have done your homework, you are in a much better (well informed) position to engage your Financial Advisor.

I am ready to help you. Are you ready to help yourself?

He or she will be able to shed light on what the plan does for you, and how your needs may or may still be served by the plan. And finally, they are the ones that can propose solutions to rectify the mistake.

To Conclude:

As all mistakes go, nothing is truly irreversible or world ending. (So far)

You may have bought the wrong policy years ago, when you were misinformed or didn’t know any better. Its not the end of the world.

Look at it positively – you belong to a group of people that care enough to do something about your protection or weatlth accumulation needs, and thats the first step to financial security.

This is just an opportunity to increase your knowledge, and be more confident in the next financial decision that you make.

Need extra help? We got your back.

Sign up for our free Financial Discovery Journey here. 

You can upload your existing policy documents, where we help you break it down to see how it still serves your needs – or not.

We can also link you up with our trusted Financial planner partners that we’ve vetted for skills and integrity – so you can decide with confidence.

And finally, its worthwhile nothing that we do give cash rebates for plan bought via our partners.

What are you waiting for?

Don’t make the mistake of not using us to help you