Common sense—and any good insurance recovery lawyer—will urge policyholders to regularly review their insurance policies. Whether it be homeowner’s, director’s and officer’s, first party property, cyber or any other line of coverage, circumstances change, and policies should be consistently monitored and updated to keep pace.

Large corporations typically have dedicated risk management departments that stay on top of their coverage portfolios, but individual policyholders all too often purchase policies and simply file them away—in the apparent hope that the mere act of buying coverage serves as a hedge against ever needing it. This is the “buy and shelve” approach to insurance. And, while it’s never a good strategy, it is particularly dangerous in the context of life insurance.