5 Insurance Moves Nashville Couples Should Make Before Baby Arrives

The Healthcare.gov guide on adding a new family member explains qualifying life events and special enrollment periods if you need coverage outside your employer's plan.

Bump Up Your Auto Liability Limits

A rear-end collision that felt like a minor inconvenience when it was just you and your partner takes on a completely different weight with a car seat in the back. Many Nashville couples carry Tennessee's minimum liability limits — $25,000 per person/$50,000 per accident for bodily injury — and don't think twice about it.

Those minimums won't stretch far if your family is in a serious accident on I-24 or dealing with a multi-car pileup on Briley Parkway during a spring 2026 afternoon storm. Increasing your bodily injury and uninsured motorist coverage is one of the most cost-effective upgrades you can make. The premium difference between minimum limits and $100,000/$300,000 is often surprisingly small.

Also worth mentioning: if you're about to buy a bigger vehicle (the SUV-shopping phase is real), your coverage should be reviewed at the same time. Don't just transfer your old sedan's policy limits to a new family vehicle.

Revisit Your Homeowners or Renters Policy

Baby gear adds up fast. A crib, stroller, car seat, monitor, bassinet, clothes, a glider you swore you wouldn't buy but absolutely did — the replacement cost of everything in your nursery alone could be several thousand dollars.

If your personal property coverage hasn't been updated since you signed your lease in East Nashville or closed on your home in Donelson, it probably doesn't reflect what you actually own now. Do a quick mental inventory of what you'd need to replace if a pipe burst or a storm caused damage. Then check whether your policy limits would actually cover it.

For homeowners, this is also a good time to confirm your dwelling coverage keeps pace with Nashville's rising rebuild costs. Construction labor and materials in Davidson County have climbed steadily, and a policy written two or three years ago might leave a gap.

Name Your Beneficiaries and Set Up a Will

This one isn't technically an insurance product, but it's deeply connected to every policy you own. Life insurance payouts, retirement accounts, and bank accounts all depend on your named beneficiaries. If you haven't updated those designations since you got married — or if you never set them up at all — your baby won't automatically be protected.

A few specific steps:

1. Update beneficiaries on every life insurance policy, 401(k), and IRA. Your spouse is likely primary, but consider naming a contingent beneficiary in case something happens to both of you.
2. Designate a guardian for your child in a legal will. Without one, a Tennessee court decides who raises your kid.
3. Consider a trust if you have significant assets or property investments. It gives you more control over how funds are managed on your child's behalf.

None of this is fun paperwork. But doing it now, while you're still sleeping through the night, beats doing it later when you're not.