Dual House Insurance?

r_i_c

Hi,

My father sadly passed away late 2013 & is survived by his spouse. He was very 'tidy' & extant paperwork only reaches back to 2012. Paperwork from this year mentions Home Insurer 'HS' but paperwork from early 2013 begins mentioning a second home insurer 'GH'.

GH insurer is due for renewal so they wrote to us and I basically asked them why are we insured twice? They didn't know & had never heard of Insurer 'HS'. GH said I needed to identify if our home was "dual insured" & if so, to let them know.

There is nothing in the old correspondence mentioning 'dual insurance cover'. Can anyone possibly suggest what is going on here please?

Is it all right to have dual insurance cover? Why would someone want dual insurance cover - is it a good idea?

Many thanks,

ric

InsideInsurance

Generally its not a good idea as it causes significant headache whenever claims happen due to the differing wording/ coverages etc. When you get into commercial insurance then it may not be uncommon to have multiple policies either that are co-insurers (ie covers overlap) or are different layers (ie one policy for up to £3,000,000 of losses and then another for £3m-£5m) with the reason being a combination of both insurers desire to carry such large risks all on their own and the fact it can be cheaper to break up the policy and do other smart things.

I cant think why a regular domestic situation would benefit from dual insurance. Most the time it happens is due to autorenewal being forgotten about after buying new insurance elsewhere.

What are the names of the companies? The codes arent helpful if one company claims not to know who/ what the other one is.

r_i_c

Thank you. Yes, this is decidedly domestic insurance cover & not commercial. The names of the two insurers are a). Gallagher Heath, and b). HomeServe. Please advise further.

dwsjarcmcd

HomeServe don't write home insurance. I would think their cover relates to boiler breakdown / Home Emergency cover.

rs65

r_i_c wrote: »

Thank you. Yes, this is decidedly domestic insurance cover & not commercial. The names of the two insurers are a). Gallagher Heath, and b). HomeServe. Please advise further.

Google Homeserve and you'll see what they provide. Probably different from the cover provided by Gallagher which is more likely to be normal home insurance.

r_i_c

Thanks, that's a relief - so we can keep them both current, the one for Home Insurance, the other for boiler / Home Emergency

rs65

r_i_c wrote: »

Thanks, that's a relief - so we can keep them both current, the one for Home Insurance, the other for boiler / Home Emergency

To be certain you'll need to find out what cover Homeserve provide you and check Gallagher don't provide it. My home insurance provides home emergency (but its not with Gallagher).

r_i_c

rs65 wrote: »

To be certain you'll need to find out what cover Homeserve provide you and check Gallagher don't provide it. My home insurance provides home emergency (but its not with Gallagher).

Thanks. That's a point - both Gallagher & HomeServe provide boiler cover but Gallagher not, if the boiler is over 15 years old (ours is & still going strong). HomeServe will look at the boiler if it can be repaired, they have no age limit on the boiler. I think HomeServe have always been called in if there's ever a problem with the central heating, no worries. The main thing is we are not in a "dual home insurance" situation which might muddy waters in the event of a mishap?

HomeServe cover us for 'Emergency', Gallagher do not appear to - the Gallagher box beside 'Home Emergency' has "N/A" typed against it. HomeServe cover us for 'Emergencies' & 'Emergency Repairs'.

r_i_c

Hi,

A little more than two months have passed since I received such good advice on the house insurance. Now sadly the house owner 'mum' died after being rushed to hospital from which she did not return. The poor lady lasted only nine days on the ward, however hard they tried for her.

But what do I do now please? Obviously the owner's bank has wisely frozen her account and all direct debits have been cancelled. What do I do about the insurance please? For example, can I continue with the payment instalments or must everything be started from the beginning?

Until probate is agreed everything concerning the property is on a very tight rein indeed, I cannot afford large pay outs at this stage, at this unhappy time.

Thanks again.

dacouch

r_i_c wrote: »

Hi,

A little more than two months have passed since I received such good advice on the house insurance. Now sadly the house owner 'mum' died after being rushed to hospital from which she did not return. The poor lady lasted only nine days on the ward, however hard they tried for her.

But what do I do now please? Obviously the owner's bank has wisely frozen her account and all direct debits have been cancelled. What do I do about the insurance please? For example, can I continue with the payment instalments or must everything be started from the beginning?

Until probate is agreed everything concerning the property is on a very tight rein indeed, I cannot afford large pay outs at this stage, at this unhappy time.

Thanks again.

What normally happens is the Home Insurer changes the name of the Policyholder from your mum's name to "The Executor of the Late Mrs X". Which enables the property to be covered whilst the estate is handled.

So the executor needs to contact the Insurer or broker to advise them of the situation so they can alter the policy.

Be aware that some Insurers will not offer to renew the cover of the property due to (I assume) the house being unoccupied. If happens the estate (Executor) will need to rearrange cover with a company that specialises in covering unoccupied properties which tends to be more expensive and offer less cover.

Unoccupied properties have a tendency for more claims due to them being left unoccupied. It would be sensible to take extra precautions such as visiting the house to keep an eye on it or a regular basis. Ensure letters are not left in the post box and try and cut the grass on a regular basis (If possible).

It's a good idea to keep a record of the visits you make to the property and any damage noticed along with any action taken. This can be helpful if there is a claim and any query from the Insurer as to whether the property was inspected frequently enough.

In the winter months extra precautions may be needed to prevent frozen pipes.

r_i_c

Many thanks, I can assure you the property is occupied. Since my mother became very frail after my father sadly died, I became her full time carer and ultimately resident at her address. So I am now the sole resident - not a very happy resident at this distressing time - but this has come to pass. My mother's late home is fully occupied, so I must let the insurer know that?