As with any financial tool, it makes sense to periodically analyze your insurance holdings to make sure that you are on track towards your goals and adequately protected from downside risks. Many insurance industry professionals suggest an annual review of your policies to make sure that you have the coverage you need. Follow these steps to complete an annual insurance check-up:

1. Do some comparison shopping to verify that you are not overpaying with your current carrier. While you're at it check into your current company or those you're considering. Most if not all states have insurance departments where you can research various companies to see if they have any pending issues. The Better Business Bureau can be another great resource to help you investigate the track records of providers.

2. Look for additional savings and inquire about raising your deductible. Bringing your deductible up from $500 to $1,000 could equate to significant savings in your annual premiums. Another money saving tip can be getting quotes for multiple policies from the same carrier. Many insurance companies offer multi-line discounts so keeping your home and auto policies under one roof may lead to serious savings.

3. Maintain a good credit score to make yourself an attractive customer in the eyes of an insurer. Why? Insurance companies are like most businesses. They like to have their bills paid on time and do not want to spend time and money chasing down customers for payment. A customer with a low risk for default may enjoy lower premiums as a result.

4. Check with your current carrier to see if your existing policy can be adjusted to either add protection or scale back your existing coverage. If you are like many homeowners in the United States, your property value has likely taken a hit the past five years.

5. Ask about available discounts. Some carriers reward you for improving the safety of your home. Adding a home security system and dead bolt locks can protect your property from unwanted guests. Smoke alarms and sprinkler systems can help reduce the cost of fire damage. Of course some of these items are more cost prohibitive than others but there is no denying that they can help save your life and personal possessions.

When choosing a provider be sure to ask if they offer discounts for long-term customers. It may take you a handful of years to reap the benefits. But, in doing so, you may save big over the long run by not bouncing from carrier to carrier to save a couple dollars every year. One final money saving tip may be to see if you can save money each month with electronic bill payments. More and more companies recognize that mailing out bills, paying the associated postage, and having someone manually process those payments is not a good use of their funds. Thus, companies are offering incentives to help move their customers towards electronic delivery and payments.

While saving money on your insurance coverage is always nice, be sure that you also select a quality provider with a proven, stable track record.