Sold house, notified insurance company but they did not cancel, caused me to lose refund, what are my rights?

Question

We sold our house a year ago in Montana. I contacted the insurance company during office hours to cancel the policy, noone answered, so I left a message. I thought that it had been taken care of. In their notes they said they called me back but noone answered. Noone ever tried again, left a message or mailed me anything requesting written notification. The title company told us upon closing that the escrow bill on our closing costs was for backpayments. Even though I thought we had been paying things in advance with the escrow, but didn't totally understand how the mortgage company managed it, so we trusted the closing agent. Now I just recieved a renewal request from the insurance company. I contacted them and they said the insurance had been paid for the last year (during which time I did not own the house). Also, I was supposed to provide written notification to the insurance company. So apparently I was eligible for a refund but they are telling me I can't now recieve one since it has been too long. How could this possibly be legal? To withhold funds that were paid to insure a house that I did not own.

Answer 1

I am not an lawyer but it seems like in court you would probably lose.

What you should do is contact the State Office which supervises

insurance companies. It might be the Attorney General or Montana

may have their own commission. File a formal complaint. The State

will probably notify the insurance company that they have a certain

time to resolve the complaint or the State will investigate further. The

company might decide to issue the refund to get you to go away.

Good Luck

Answer 2

take a copy of your HUD to the agency and sign a cancellation eff the date you sold the home.  they can fax to the company to cancel back to the date of sale and get your refund.  be sure they have a forwarding address to send the refund to.  when you called the agency and no one answered i find it hard to believe they do not have a message machine that states "you cannot bind, change, or cancel insurance by leaving a message" or something to that effect.  EVERY agency I know has this.  It is NOT your agents responsibility to track you down, you should have followed up on this and not just assumed it was taken care of.  You can get your money back no problem....don't worry.

Answer 3

Susan D, Home insurance is actually very flexible. I'm not familiar with all the fine print of my homeowners policy, but my home insurance agent is always helpful. Try visting your agent or a agent in your area. http://www.easyhomeinsuranceguide.com They will be able to assist you.

Answer 4

That's incorrect.  If you provide a copy of the closing statement showing the date you sold the house they are required to cancel the policy effective the sale date or at the very least the last renewal date and refund the money.    I'd push for a refund back to the date of sale.

Ask to speak to a supervisor, and if they are still telling you that contact your state's department of insurance for assistance.

Answer 5

If you can prove with documentation that the house was sold, send written notice directly to the insurance COMPANY, not the agent. This happens all the time and the company should backdate the cancellation and refund your money.  If not, contact the insurance department in your state and file a complaint.

Answer 6

you must contact your insurance company and sort matter cordially

Answer 7

The only way to cancel an insurance policy is in writing, signed by ALL named insureds.  What you need to do is send a letter stating you wish to cancel the policy on the day after the closing (you need to have coverage through the closing time & since all policies expire at 12:01 am - one minute after midnight), you would cancel effective the next day.  Send your letter with all the policy information, company, policy # and effective dates (the dates that the cancellation falls within), your name(s) and current address and the sold property address.   Send with proof of sale (this is required to cancel any policy back more than 30 days).

This should take care of the cancellation.  Expect the process to take about 30 days (to get the notice of the cancelled policy) and it may take another 1-2 weeks to get the refund check.