Insurance company paid me twice on a claim

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

...is what I've discovered today, upon opening a letter from my household insurer. I made a claim at the start of this year for damage caused to my house by a burst water pipe (frozen).

They paid the £2500 or so, but then a week later paid the same amount again.

As unbelievable as I know this may sound to some, I have several bank accounts, am self-employed, and don't particularly pay much attention to my home account. So long as there's money in it, that's fine by me.

Now I don't dispute that this money has to be repaid, and truth be told I could repay it all instantly if absolutely necessary, but that would place me in the position of having to rely on debtors to pay me what they owe, on time, which at the moment isn't something I want to dwell upon. Lots of companies pay late.

Before I phone them tomorrow, is it the usual thing to pay it back in one go, or will they be amenable to a repayment schedule over say, six months?

McKneff

I cant believe you are actually asking this.
If you pay them the whole lot tomorrow you would be in exactly the same position that you would be in had you not received it.

You cant expect the insurance company to help you out with your debtors/creditors.

Yes they made a mistake, but !!!!!!, just pay it back.
It just may come back and bite you in the bum in the future.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

I'd like to pay it back in full, it'd just leave me stretched, and at the mercy of the companies I've worked for over the past few months, who haven't yet paid up. I'd rather have a little leeway, and my question is - is this reasonable, and will they accept such a thing? It isn't an insignificant sum of money.

I'm not for one moment suggesting that I don't want to pay it back.

bengalknights

The question you should ask yourself is if the insurer find out they may then take it upon themselves to invalidate and refuse you any future insurance.At the same time if you point out there mistake to them and just state you spent it because you thougt it was clients money etc they may accept a payment plan.

AnonymousForObviousReason

If you did spot it, phone up and explain you didn't notice till today when you were doing your accounts and you wish to query the amount (don't say you know it's a mistake - it may not be). Say paying it back would cause you to go into debt so can you pay it back over 6 months in instalments of 416.67 amounts (don't forget to subtract the final pennies from the last month)? I would ask for it in writing and say you'll pay first amount when they confirm in writing it's acceptable.

If they say this is not acceptable to them, you could string it out for a number of months - just ask them for proof you weren't owed the money first. Then ask for a detailed explanation of what happened, then something else. Each month though make sure you make a payment (or send a cheque) of the amount you offered, with a letter stating that this is part payment for the full amount they overpaid you without your knowledge.

See what happens.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

As I stated in my first post, they were the ones who spotted the mistake, not me. They didn't realise until eight months after the payment. I've checked with my bank today, and they're correct. I'm not disputing that I owe them the money.

I'm simply asking if paying them back in several instalments is a reasonable course of action. I don't want to be met with the response "no, we want it all, immediately", without being forearmed.

I should point out that I have only just last month renewed my house and contents insurance with them, and paid in full. I suspect on looking at my renewed account, they discovered their mistake.

AnonymousForObviousReason

... is what I've discovered today, upon opening a letter from my household insurer.

This didn't mean they spotted it, it could mean you saw payments listed for the year and thought "Oh no!"

Regardless of that, they will say that they want it all back now (as they would if you'd spotted it). However, there should be wiggle room for you, what I suggested overall still holds it's just you lost a bit of the moral high ground act as leverage. Making them an offer of repayment over 6 months means it's unlikely that they would bother taking you to court over repayment. I guess they could get upset and cancel your insurance.

bengalknights

I would go with anonymousforobviousreason if you can string it out then try it

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

To be honest I'd sooner get it out of the way as quickly as possible. Thanks for the advice.

AnonymousForObviousReason

Yes, obviously you want to get out of it as soon as possible but it's their mistake you shouldn't encounter extra costs due to this. If you can afford to pay back more quickly do so (I used 6 months as that was in your original post), the quicker your repayments the more likely they are to accept (just don't overstretch yourself and risk missing one).

Remember if they noticed immediately (or not made the mistake) you'd have had the opportunity to react differently to your financial situations over the previous 8 months and wouldn't be in your current predicament.

Personally I'd as for a reduction in your payments as compensation for all the inconvenience and worry or refund of a payment (just to make a point, silly request as you've had the benefit of interest, I'm just a grumpy git). It's where people try to keep the money that's wrong.

McKneff

I guess they could get upset and cancel your insurance.

taken from a posters post.

If they did this you would find it very difficult to obtain further insurance. Wouldnt matter why a policy is cancelled.
I would just pay it and get it out o the way to be honest.