Landlord's insurance then moving back in to the property

thrifty_pete

I have landlord's insurance (mainly in case of fire or flood, no one's likely to steal the furniture).
If I move back in, is that likely to make the insurance invalid or the insurer will just charge an admin fee to change the details?. In the past with home insurance, I've seen fees of £50 to change / cancel an existing policy, when the annual premium might only be £80, it seems perverse and is better value to put that £50 towards a new policy. The old policy can simply run its course - I would never claim on it as I have the new policy in place. I cannot see a logical justification of a cancellation fee for insurance.
Presumably the risk is lower for the insurer with an owner-occupier but on the other hand an owner occupier is likely to have more desirable possessions in the property?
Either way the cover is more than enough for my possessions.

Chickenlips

Does the policy have a condition that states that you must report any changes in circumstance/use/occupancy? If so, better safe than sorry.

Zorillo

Most Property Owners policies won't cover a property occupied by the owner (It's a stupid name really). Your insurer might decide to allow your policy to run to renewal with you living in it, or they might not, in which case you'd have to arrange new insurance and cancel the existing.

thrifty_pete

Yes, the charge for the change or cancellation will cost more than the time remaining time on the policy is worth. Its a bit like going into Tescos, buying a can of beans for 80 pence, then leaving it in the food bank box and the manager saying "oh if you don't want the beans you have to pay a 50 pence surcharge for changing the customer".

Zorillo

Are you sure there is a cancellation fee?

thrifty_pete

Yes, there is a 50 quid fee for cancellation or change.

Quentin

The premium refund is irrelevant to the cancellation charge!


You agreed that they could charge a cancellation fee when taking out the policy, and if you now want to change the goalposts and it results in a cancellation being necessary there is little you can do regarding the charge for cancelling


Except....make a complaint in line with their complaints policy you feel they are being unfair


Then if you are unhappy with the reply you can escalate to the FOS at no cost to you for their adjudication


Some insurers are known to get rid of a complaint by making a goodwill gesture - this is because the cost to the insurer in dealing with a complaint in management time as well as having to pay the FOS fee (£100s) for dealing with a complaint makes it far more economical to make the gesture to end the issue!

thrifty_pete

I don't want any refund. I cannot see anything wrong with letting the contract expire, rather than pay to end it prematurely.
To give another example, I sign up for a landline contact and pay the whole year's line rental in advance. Then halfway through the year, I want to switch to a mobile phone. To cancel the landline would cost 50 quid on top of the money I have already paid for the year. So I just let the landline contract runs its course and put the 50 quid towards my new mobile contract.

Chickenlips

If your policy requires you to inform insurers of any change in circumstances and you do not, you may cause yourself a big issue if you needed to claim.

If your insurance company do not insure the new risk (you living there: domestic policy), they would be within their rights to void the policy.

If you had a claim worth £10,000.00 and they discovered the change in circumstance, and they can demonstrate they do not insure that type of risk, you won't get a penny and your policy will be made void (which you will have to declare when taking out new cover, making it more expensive).

Whilst £50.00 seems high in comparison to your premium, can you afford to self insure (pay for any claims) in the event of a insured peril operating? If not, just pay the £50.00.

You may want to look at domestic policies as well as £80.00 seems low so I would assume your policy is subject to more exclusions and conditions. Domestic policies (and insurers!) Tend to be a little softer than commercial insurers.

Zorillo

Most commercial policies don't contain a cancellation fee, so I'd assume this is a domestic policy.

OP, there's nothing to stop you just letting the policy expire if you don't want to cancel it. You just won't get a refund, but as you don't want it then all's well.

Just don't forget and try to claim under it!

ashburnham

Normally the cancellation fee comes out of the premium refund. If there is only £10 refund from cancelling the policy, it is unlikely they will say they need you to pay another £40 to finish the process. If they do then just tell them to leave the policy running. It will obviously be invalid but this isn't a problem.


I would approach them with the intention of making the required change. They may be able to use the refund towards a new policy (or even change the existing policy if you are lucky). This normally avoids cancellation fees as you are keeping your business with them.