How to Organize Family Insurance Policies

Think in people, not policies

Start by writing down every family member you are financially responsible for: yourself, your spouse, children, and parents or in-laws who depend on you. Then, for each person, list the cover that applies to them.

• Health: are they on an individual policy, a family floater or an employer group policy? What is the sum insured available to them?
• Life: is there cover on their life, and does the family depend on their income?
• Personal accident or critical illness cover, if any.

This view shows gaps that a policy list hides. It is common to find that a parent has no health cover at all, or that the only life cover in the household is on the lower earner.

Understand how a floater is shared

A family floater has one sum insured for everyone on it. A large claim by one member reduces what is left for the others in that policy year. This is efficient for a young family, and less so when the policy includes older members who are more likely to claim. Many families keep parents on a separate policy for this reason. If your floater includes senior members, ask your advisor whether separating them would give everyone better protection.

Do not rely on employer cover alone

Group cover from an employer is valuable, but it ends when the job does. Record it, note who it covers and how much, and treat it as an addition to your own policy rather than a replacement. This matters most for parents covered under your group policy: finding fresh cover for an older person after a job change can be difficult and expensive.

Check nominees and contact details

For each life policy, confirm who the nominee is. Policies bought before marriage often still name a parent. Check that the phone number and email on every policy belong to someone who reads them; reminders sent to an old number are a common cause of lapses.

Line up the renewal dates

Put every renewal on one calendar. If several fall in the same month, plan for the outgo. Some families deliberately align dates so that insurance is dealt with once a year; others prefer to spread them out. Either works, as long as it is a decision rather than an accident.

Give one person the full picture, and a second person access

In most households one person handles insurance. That is fine, provided a second adult knows where the records are, who the advisor is and how to make a claim. Walk them through it once. Keep the advisor's number saved on both phones.

Revisit after every life event

Marriage, a birth, a home loan, a parent retiring and a child starting work all change what cover the family needs. Add newborns to the health policy within the period the insurer allows, update nominees after marriage, and review life cover whenever a large loan is taken.

Doing this in Policy Mitra

Policy Mitra lets you add family members to your account and record each policy against the people it covers. The Family section then shows every member with the policies that apply to them, so a member with no cover stands out. Renewal dates for the whole household appear on a single timeline. If you want cover for a member who has none, you can raise a request from the Insurance section and an advisor will respond with options.