Well, most people see their family doctor once a year for a checkup.  Most people do their taxes each year and have a review with their accountant.  If you have health insurance you probably review that at open enrollment each year.  As part of a sound financial plan, all of your insurances should be reviewed each year.  Why?  Are your discounts and coverage adequate?  Could you do better?  Is your personal information up to date?

Want another reason?

Insurance rates go in cycles, the industry refers to these as soft and hard markets.  What does this mean to you?  It means if you can review your plan every twelve months you should.  If you go any longer than 18 months you will likely miss a savings opportunity for your family.  One of the worst parts about being an agent is reviewing a plan that has not been reviewed in 2-5 years or more and finding huge savings that could have just been nice savings.  How long were they overpaying for?

Update 5/11/2015

This is still true.  If anything, since this post was first published this is even more important.  The personal insurance market has become even more slanted towards the consumer.  More accurately, the consumer has become more self-reliant, technology has improved and the interest in value over price has increased.

Has the timetable stayed the same?  YES.  To be honest, if someone really wanted to they could max out the savings by lowering this timetable to every six months.  BUT keep in mind that any savings you may find will likely not match up with the current time it takes to switch.

So?  Stick to the 12-18 months and understand that until the available technology improves this is a great plan.  Until the time it takes to switch goes down, the number of times to switch in a time period shouldn’t be any higher than it is now.