In the event that you have a tragedy the last thing you want to do is dig through files of papers to find your insurance documents. I wanted to share with you a few tips to get you organized so if something happens you will be prepared.
Step 1 On your computer you have folders such as “My Picture”, “My Music”, etc. Create a folder named “My Insurance.” You can even create sub-folders by the type of insurance. For example, Health, Auto, Life, Disability.
Step 2 Gather digital copies of your insurance. You can either scan the paper copies you have or ask your agent to email you a copy of your “Declarations Page” and save that to the folder.
Step 3 Don’t forget your insurance that you have provided through your employer. Ask your Human Resources Manager for a copy of your benefits summary you have with them.
Step 4 Review your beneficiaries on your life insurance. There have been claims where the man remarried, he passed away and his ex-wife got the insurance money.
Step 5 Let your spouse know where you have these documents saved. You may also want to send your beneficiary a copy of your benefits as well.
Step 6 Add your agent as a contact in your phone. Also, add the claims number for your insurance company as a contact. Put in the notes section your phone.
Bonus Services such as dropbox help you keep these documents in the cloud. Once the documents are in dropbox it allows you to “share” the folder with anyone. And if you have the app on your phone you can access your documents at any time.
Side tangent…. We went on a cruise a few years back to Mexico. For my children I was told I didn’t need passports, just birth certificates. Well, for some reason in my brain fog I was thinking they didn’t need any documentation. So, there we were in Florida in line for the cruise ship and they asked for birth certificates for the kids. I didn’t have them…….They took us into some special room and asked if we could get a copy. Thankfully, I had them all scanned and in the cloud. I was able to pull them up on my phone and emailed them directly to the Disney Cruise employee.
I hope you have found these tips helpful and are more prepared should something unfortunate happen to your family.