changing occupation on home insurance renewal

Brie

I've had my renewal documents through the post.  I was surprised to see my occupation listed as it was a reference to a job I had a few years back.  I looked up my documents from last year and it had my occupation for last year, so different than what's on the renewal which seems very odd.  I suppose they may have reduced the number of occupation categories and had shoehorned me into the one that appeared most appropriate.

Ultimately though my issue is that I am now retired.  So new "occupation".  It didn't occur to me to change this mid insurance year (been a pig of a year so house insurance hasn't been a priority to me).  But what happens if I tell them now for the renewal?  Will they change the occupation as of today and thus charge an admin fee?  Can I say I only want it to apply from the start of the renewal?  I am assuming (rightly or wrongly) that being retired and being more at home would bring down the policy price a bit.  

I have shopped around and yes other policies are cheaper but I haven't decided if I want to move due to the customer service level from this company.  

born_again

Just get them to update to retired. 

MyRealNameToo

Brie said:

I've had my renewal documents through the post.  I was surprised to see my occupation listed as it was a reference to a job I had a few years back.  I looked up my documents from last year and it had my occupation for last year, so different than what's on the renewal which seems very odd.  I suppose they may have reduced the number of occupation categories and had shoehorned me into the one that appeared most appropriate.

Ultimately though my issue is that I am now retired.  So new "occupation".  It didn't occur to me to change this mid insurance year (been a pig of a year so house insurance hasn't been a priority to me).  But what happens if I tell them now for the renewal?  Will they change the occupation as of today and thus charge an admin fee?  Can I say I only want it to apply from the start of the renewal?  I am assuming (rightly or wrongly) that being retired and being more at home would bring down the policy price a bit.  

I have shopped around and yes other policies are cheaper but I haven't decided if I want to move due to the customer service level from this company.  

Depends on your occupation, being home all day means you are more likely to spot a problem before it causes additional damage but also means you are more likely to drop a glass of red wine or leave the chip pan on and cause a fire. If you were a high risk occupation then it probably would reduce premiums, if you were more run of the mill it can kind of go either way. 

Ultimately speak to your insurers and state that you've not the renewal notice and need to change your occupational status from Employed to Retired. They may talk about needing to change it now but there's a reasonable chance they just do what you ask and dont consider to ask if it needs to be done from today on your current policy.