Every crisis — global, like a pandemic, or domestic, like losing a job — forces us back through every line of expenditure, and the insurance premium is usually among the first items questioned. This article is a systematic review checklist, so the decision is made with reason rather than alarm.
1: Gather everything and make a policy inventory
Before deciding anything, you have to see the whole picture. List every policy with five columns: the type of cover, the sum insured, the annual premium, the payment due date, and the cash value (if any). That single table is the main tool for every step that follows — and it is something worth having at home even with no crisis.
2: Separate "untouchable" from "adjustable"
Group the cover by what the impact would be if it were lost.
- Untouchable: health insurance (once cancelled, you may not be able to return on the same terms) and life cover for the period while debts and dependants remain.
- Adjustable: riders that duplicate other benefits, the savings portion that can be deferred, and any life sum insured beyond your real obligations.
An easy rule: keep what is hard to buy back; consider adjusting what can be bought again.
3: Check the rights in the policy that carry you through without losing cover
Policies hold more tools than people realise. Go through them one at a time:
- The 30-day grace period, which gives breathing space every instalment.
- The automatic premium loan (APL), for policies with a cash value.
- Changing the payment frequency to match your cash flow.
- A policy loan at the specified interest rate.
- Paid-up value or extended term, for permanently stopping payment.
We cover all of these tools in detail in our series on managing a policy when the premium is unaffordable — worth reading alongside this.
4: Check the cover against today's risks
A crisis magnifies the gaps. Use the moment to ask: is the health cover enough for current treatment costs? Is there income replacement for a period when you cannot work? And does the family know where the policies are and how to claim? Crises have taught us repeatedly that cover the family does not know about is barely different from no cover at all.
5: Beware decisions that harm you long term
Three things not to do in a panic. One: surrendering a long-held older policy for a small lump sum, when its real value is the conditions and premium locked in at a young age. Two: cancelling health insurance precisely as your health risk rises. Three: going silent with the company, exercising no rights at all, and letting the policy lapse by itself. Every better option starts with contacting the company or your agent first.
6: Record the outcome and set the next review date
Once the review is done, note what you decided and why in the table from step 1, and set a date to review again when the situation changes — a new job, or income recovering — so that whatever you reduced can be restored in full. A crisis is a temporary event; a protection plan is a lifetime matter.
In short
These six steps turn "cutting the premium out of fear" into "managing a portfolio with information." If your income has faltered and you have policy decisions to make, don't make them alone — message us on LINE and we can go through them one at a time, no charge.
This article was inspired by material from the Thai Financial Planners Association (TFPA) and has been entirely rewritten.