Editor's note: This article first appeared on Insure.com andis reprinted here with their permission. Click here for the original post.

We often hear from people who seem hell-bent on paying higherinsurance rates or getting their policies canceled.

So in the interest of time we've compiled this step-by-stepguide to bungling your coverage.

1. Don't pay your premiums on time.

Let's start off with possibly the shrewdest way to ruin yourinsurance prospects for 2015: Don't pay your insurance bills. Thisstrategy is particularly clever because it involves no action onyour part whatsoever, and in fact opens up extra time for viewing"Dancing with the Stars" and updating your Facebook page.

When you don't pay your premiums you'll face cancellation orpolicy lapse, depending on the insurance type. For example, if youcar insurance lapses you'll be facing higher rates when you want tobuy another policy.

Losing your life insurance coverage due to nonpayment would beespecially inconvenient.

"You're talking about a product that you must qualify for," saysMarvin Feldman, CEO of Life Happens, an Arlington, Virginia-basednonprofit foundation. "If your health has changed, you neglect topay the premium on time and the policy lapses, you may not be ableto replace the policy, or replace it at the same price."

2. Don't tell your life insurance beneficiaries whatcompany has your policy.

Many people regularly employ this strategy, resulting in "lost"life insurance policies. Like nonpayment of premiums, it is sublimein its simplicity: If you don't tell your beneficiaries who yourlife insurer is, they'll have a heck of a time trying to digthrough your files and old paperwork to find out. Or better yet,simply don't tell them you have a policy at all, and leave themwondering what to do after your death.

If this has happened to you, here's how tofind lost life insurance policies.

3. Forget to take your ex-spouse off your lifeinsurance policy.

Here's a way to not only enrage your current spouse if you passaway but also muck up his or her finances: Don't change your lifeinsurance beneficiary after you remarry.

Too many people think that if their will names their currentspouse as the heir, all assets will pass to their spouse as an"operation of law."

"What they don't realize is operation of contract supersedes, oroverrides, operation of law," says Kurt Cambier, senior partner atCentennial Capital Partners in Littleton, Colorado. Since a lifeinsurance policy is a contract, the life insurer is obligated topay the benefits to whoever is listed as beneficiary - regardlessof whether you remarried.

"Beneficiary designations should be part of a consistent reviewprocess, and this is true for primary beneficiaries and contingentbeneficiaries," says Cambier.

4. Neglect to make a home inventory.

Many people live blissfully for years, even decades, without anysort of home inventory. But in the bad year when you have extensivehouse damage, lack of an inventory can cost you dearly.

If you have a large homeowners insurance claim - from a fire ortornado, for example - and have no home inventory, you'll probablyhave a hard time reconstructing from memory a list of everythingyou owned. This ultimately means you won't be able to receivereimbursement for everything to which you're entitled. After all,you won't make a claim for items you forgot you had.

When State Farm Insurance agent Ted Ferry in Salem, Oregon, doescustomer insurance reviews, policyholders are encouraged to usetechnology to create a home inventory. "Take smartphone pictures orvideos of your home, then email them to yourself and don't deletethe email," Ferry says. "This is easy to do and will really help ina time of loss."

5. Don't bother to review your insurance policies everyyear.

Here, too, inertia is an easy pathway to insurance debacles. Ifyou are ignorant of your current coverage limits, you may beunderinsured.

Or you may be unaware of coverage options that could proveuseful. For example, municipal codes are much more rigorous thanthey were 15 years ago, Cambier says.

"If your home has a fire in its kitchen, and you need to redothe kitchen, your municipality is going to make you bring yourentire home up to code, with new insulation, plumbing, electricaland maybe larger windows, or they won't give you the permit to fixthe damage," he advises. "An ordinance or law rider on a policywould pay for those upgrades, but I'd guess 90 percent [of people]don't know that. Review annually what you pay in premiums and whatyou get in coverage, because things change and laws change."

6. Blow off open enrollment for healthinsurance.

Here's a fun way to make your family furious at you: Forget toadd or remove "dependents" from your health plan at open enrollmenttime. Open enrollment is your chance during the year to makechanges like this. For example, say your daughter graduated fromcollege and got a job with benefits - you'd want to drop her fromyour plan. Or maybe your daughter lost her job and needs insurance- you can add her until she's age 26.

It's also the time to change deductibles and other coverageoptions.

Some life events will make you eligible to make changes any timeof year; for example, if you get married, you can add your wife toyour health plan even if it's not open enrollment time.

7. Have a baby but don't add the little one to yourhealth insurance plan within 30 days of birth.

Boy, babies are expensive. Why not add to the expense by payingall their health care out of your pocket? That's what you'll bedoing if you don't add your new child to your health plan within 30days - or the deadline outlined by your plan. If you miss thatwindow you'll have to wait until your plan's next open enrollmentperiod to add the child as a "dependent."

"Nothing is more disruptive to even the most financiallyorganized household than the arrival of a newborn," says Gregory DeJong, financial advisor with Savant Capital Management inNaperville, Illinois.

"Just as a pilot uses the quiet cruise segment of a flight toprepare for the high workload of the approach and landing, parentswould do well to gather the information and paperwork they'll needa month prior to the baby's due date, then leave it in an obviousplace to finish up shortly after the birth. In addition to junior'sname and date of birth, a Social Security number will often berequired," says De Jong.

8. Get a DUI.

Drinking and driving can fast-track you to an insurancenightmare.

A driver who receives a DUI conviction will likely experience arate increase at renewal time, says Loretta Worters, spokespersonfor the New York City-based Insurance Information Institute. "Yourdriving record plays a major role in determining what you pay forcar insurance," she explains. "A prior conviction for driving underthe influence (DUI) or driving while intoxicated (DWI) suggests arisky driving history.

"If insurers see you as high risk, they will either charge youmore money or may drop you as a policyholder."

9. Buy a new car but don't tell your insurancecompany.

While most car insurance companies will extend some form ofautomatic coverage for new vehicles, the time period is typicallylimited, says Eric Roethe, product research specialist withAmerican Family Insurance.

"Make sure you don't wait too long after bringing that shiny newcar home before you give your agent a call," he advises.

If you don't, you'll likely be driving without coverage within afew weeks.

10. Drive for Uber.

A personal automobile policy is designed to cover only thetraditional uses of private passenger vehicles, Worters says. It isnot designed to cover the commercial use of a vehicle - includingmaking money via a ride-sharing service.

This exclusion extends beyond ride-sharing to any business useof a vehicle, such as delivering newspapers or using a pickup toplow snow.

"Before agreeing to be a ride-sharing driver, a motorist shouldtalk to [his or her] insurance representative and get a commercialinsurance policy that provides appropriate insurance protection,"Worters says.

11. Loan your car.

Trying to be Mr. Nice Guy by letting a friend borrow your carcould wreck your rates. You're responsible for what happens to andwith your car.

"When you loan your car, you're loaning your insurance, too,"says Roethe.

If your pal hits someone or something and is at-fault for theaccident, the liability claim goeson your record and could cause a rate increaseat renewal time. And if you don't have collision coverage, your cardamage isn't covered at all.

12. Make claims for every little scratch anddent.

You pay good money for your insurance, so you might as well useit, right?

But here's the rub: Actually using your insurance could bungleyour rates. Your carinsurance policy is not a car-maintenance policy, Ferrysays. It's intended to protect you from unforeseen accidents.

Definitely don't bother to make a claim for damage that's lessthan your deductible. And don't pile up small claims, which couldprovoke a rate increase down the line.

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