Setting up insurance for someone else.

kinderbar

Hi,

For reasons that I'd rather not go into, my mum doesn't like to talk on the phone at all to the point where she is unable to in certain scenarios such as involving strangers. Her home insurance is up for renewal and she has asked me to do it. She says a friend of hers did this for her last year and that immediately made me wonder about whether this would cause any problems.

If I call up her insurance company pretending to be her just to sort everything out and pay with her card etc. all with her full permission could that cause any problems? She'll even be sat next to me when it happens.

I'm just concerned that this could void the insurance and if we ever had to claim they'd have a recording showing it was set up by someone else. Would this void the insurance?

Please no suggestions about my Mum herself. I've asked her to see someone about her phone anxiety multiple times and it just leads to fights.

Thanks for any help.

Skint_yet_Again

Can you set up an email account for her and help her do it online ?

My parents don't have internet access but I set up an email address for them on my email account and help them apply online.

That way they are still the ones applying and there is no pretending to be someone else

silvercar

If she is sitting next to you, then you need to tell the SA that your mum is going to come on the phone and give you permission to deal with everything then pass the phone back. Just tell them that Mum is elderly.

rs65

Can she walk into a high street broker and talk face to face?

dacouch

Most Insurers will allow someone else to speak on their policyholders behalf providing the policyholder gives permission for you to speak on their behalf.

What you should do is call the Insurers you're interested in, explain the situation and ask if it's ok, they will normally want to check with your mother (By her confirming this over the phone) that she gives permission for you to speak on her behalf.

They may also be able to note the file for you to deal on her behalf for future discussions although they may want a letter from her to action this.

I would not recommend you pretend to be her.

It's very important that if you act on her behalf you give the correct information so check and double check whether she has any previous claims

kinderbar

silvercar wrote: »

If she is sitting next to you, then you need to tell the SA that your mum is going to come on the phone and give you permission to deal with everything then pass the phone back. Just tell them that Mum is elderly.

dacouch wrote: »

Most Insurers will allow someone else to speak on their policyholders behalf providing the policyholder gives permission for you to speak on their behalf.

What you should do is call the Insurers you're interested in, explain the situation and ask if it's ok, they will normally want to check with your mother (By her confirming this over the phone) that she gives permission for you to speak on her behalf.

They may also be able to note the file for you to deal on her behalf for future discussions although they may want a letter from her to action this.

I would not recommend you pretend to be her.

It's very important that if you act on her behalf you give the correct information so check and double check whether she has any previous claims

She will not be able to speak to them on the phone at all. Even to confirm that she is happy for me to act on her behalf.

rs65 wrote: »

Can she walk into a high street broker and talk face to face?

Hadn't considered this. She wants to stay with her current insurer. Would a broker be able to arrange that?


I guess what I really want to know is, would me pretending to be her be sufficient grounds for an insurer to void the policy and not pay out? Even in a worst case scenario where they had to pay ten's of thousands?

rs65

kinderbar wrote: »

Hadn't considered this. She wants to stay with her current insurer. Would a broker be able to arrange that?

Which insurer?

kinderbar wrote: »

I guess what I really want to know is, would me pretending to be her be sufficient grounds for an insurer to void the policy and not pay out? Even in a worst case scenario where they had to pay ten's of thousands?

Probably yes. Remember they don't know that your mum is sitting beside you.


Can she use a textphone?

FutureGirl

Does her insurance not automatically renew? Most these days do.

I wouldn't bother just pretending to be her, this could be seen as fraudulent. If the insurers found out, they will void the policy and you could be in trouble - even though you know she is sitting there, they don't.

Surely she'd receive a renewal quote and you mum could reply in writing that she wants to accept the renewal. They should have her details from last year when she purchased.

kinderbar

LV is the insurer.

Textphone? I've never heard of it.

I'm thinking doing it online is the best option. I'll go through it with her and help her.

FutureGirl

You need to see if her current policy auto renews or not (I'll say on the renewal quote). If it doesn't then doing it online is fine. If it does, then you don't need to do anything it'll just auto re-new.

If you go online and it does auto re-new, you'll then have 2 policies and your mum will then need to call them.

Parking_Trouble

If it's a straightforward renewal and nothing material has changed then surely you can renew and pay online for her.

I find LV quite helpful compared to others so if you can't do it online for her why not call LV customer services, explain the situation and ask them how you could renew on her behalf.

I agree it is not right to pretend to be her.