A woman reads off her credit card information while talking on a cellphone, as she makes sure not to miss an insurance payment

Insurance is supposed to give you peace of mind, knowing that you’ll be protected when you need it most — the last thing you want to worry about is that protection not being there when you need it because of something as simple as a missed payment. We have some tips to help make sure you never experience a policy cancellation or lapse in coverage because of a missed payment.

  1. Set up automatic payments. Depending on your insurer, you’ll likely have a few different options for payment methods and the frequency of your payments. The easiest way to make sure you never miss a bill payment is to set up automatic withdrawals from your credit card or bank account. If you decide you’re ready to set up automatic payments, make sure you give your insurer plenty of notice before your next bill is due. Bonus tip: If you get a new credit card or yours expires, remember to update your payment information so you don’t face a penalty for missing a payment.
  2. Set reminders for payment due dates on your phone. If you aren’t able to set up automatic payments, consider setting up reminders for a couple of weeks before each payment due date so you never miss one. If you miss a payment, you risk having your policy cancelled.
  3. Review your renewal documents for administrative changes. While it’s important to review your coverage at renewal time to make sure it’s up to date, you should also review your renewal documents for changes that could affect your payment methods or schedule. For example, your insurer may request that you begin using your policy number instead of your account number for your automatic withdrawals. Missing an update like this could result in inconvenient errors that have to be fixed after the fact.
  4. Allow lots of time to make changes. If you need to make a change to your coverage, payment method, or banking information, make sure you give your group’s insurance broker plenty of notice. Some changes (like updated banking information, for example) take 20 business days or more to come into effect, so you don’t want to wait until the last minute and find that your update wasn’t made in time.

Want to set up automatic payments or make another change to your payment profile? As always, your group’s licensed insurance broker can help — so give them a call today!

Share these tips on Facebook or Twitter to help your friends avoid the hassle of missed insurance payments.