How to see your household insurance together in one afternoon

Insurance and financial protections get purchased at different times, from different providers, and managed separately. The result is that nobody ends up looking at the whole picture.

A household insurance audit is the exercise that changes this. What it can surface: coverage you're paying for twice, benefits you didn't know you had, areas where you thought you were covered and nothing does, and warranties on products still in your home. What it surfaces for you depends on what you own.

Here's how to do it in one afternoon.

What you're auditing

A complete household audit covers:

• Insurance policies (health, auto, home, life, dental, vision, umbrella)
• Employer benefits (health, FSA/HSA, life, disability, EAP, voluntary benefits)
• Credit card benefits (travel insurance, purchase protection, extended warranties, CDW)
• Product warranties (manufacturer warranties, extended warranties, service contracts)
• Memberships (AAA, Costco, Amazon Prime, many of which include overlapping protections)

Step 1: Gather everything (45 minutes)

• All insurance policy documents (PDFs, paper documents, or email confirmations)
• Your most recent auto insurance declarations page
• Your homeowner's or renter's insurance declarations page
• Your health insurance summary of benefits
• Life insurance policy documents
• Your employer's most recent benefits guide
• Credit card benefits guides for every card you carry (search your email for "[card name] benefits guide" or log in to your card issuer's portal)
• Warranty documents for appliances, electronics, and other major purchases

Don't worry if you can't find everything. Audit what you have and note what's missing to follow up later.

Step 2: Build your coverage inventory (30 minutes)

• Policy name / provider
• What it covers
• Annual cost
• Renewal date
• Key coverage limits and deductibles

This sounds tedious but takes less time than expected. Most policies have a declarations page that summarizes this in one page.

Step 3: Look for overlaps (30 minutes)

Common overlaps to look for:

Roadside assistance: Your auto insurance, credit card, and AAA membership may all include this. You need one, not three.

Rental car coverage: Auto insurance, credit cards, and some employer benefits all provide this. Identify which provides primary coverage.

Travel insurance: Credit cards, standalone travel insurance policies, and sometimes employer benefits all include trip cancellation, medical, and delay coverage.

Extended warranties: Your credit card likely extends manufacturer warranties automatically. Any standalone extended warranty you bought at the retailer may be duplicating this.

Life insurance: Employer-provided group life, a standalone policy, and a credit card death benefit are three separate sources that rarely get added up together. Step 4 is where you total them.

Step 4: Know where your limits stop (30 minutes)

You're not deciding anything in this step. You're writing down the numbers that make the next conversation with your agent a short one.

Liability limits. Your auto and home declarations pages each state a liability limit. Write both down. These are the numbers any conversation about additional liability coverage starts from.

Disability replacement rate. Your employer benefits guide states what percentage of income short-term and long-term disability replace, and the elimination period before each begins. Note whether the definition is "own occupation" or "any occupation", and your plan document says which.

Flood. Standard home insurance policies exclude flooding. Check whether yours does (almost all do) and whether you carry separate flood coverage.

Life insurance, all sources. Note what you have individually, what your employer provides as group life (often a multiple of salary), and whether coverage exists for a non-earning spouse. One total, from all sources.

Step 5: Review and prioritize (30 minutes)

• List the overlaps you found, with what each duplicate costs you annually
• List the areas where nothing covers you, and note which limits you wrote down in Step 4
• Take both lists to your insurer or a licensed agent. They can price the options; you now know exactly what you already own, which is the part nobody usually walks in with.

What LifQ does with this information

• Extracts key data from every policy automatically
• Maps overlaps across your entire portfolio
• Shows where nothing in your portfolio covers a risk
• Gives you a Portfolio Score and lists what each policy costs you
• Tracks renewal dates and sends you reminders

LifQ is being built to lay this out from your actual documents, in one place your household can see.

Your policy documents are the authority on what you have, and your carrier, plan administrator, or a licensed agent is the authority on what to change. LifQ's job is making sure you walk into that conversation knowing exactly what you already own.