Home owners insurance cancelled but not mentioned during claim?

[isis297]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MD

My mom has been staying with me in NY as she took VERY ill and I couldn't go stay with her as I have children in school. She had her mail forwarded to come to my home and over the summer, her basement flooded. We have been talking with the insurance company since it happened getting the house repaired. The only thing we were told was we had to fax a copy of the deed to them as the policy was in my grandparents' names but now the house is in my mom's name since their death. We did that. NOTHING has been mentioned about the account being past due much less cancelled for non payment. (My mom JUST got an envelope with a couple of bills in it from a neighbor. We have NO idea why these weren't forwarded by the post office when we know mail is still being forwarded.)

My mom called to make a payment and the woman was very rude to her telling her why did it take so long to get in touch with them. My mom tried explaining and told her she would bring the account current right now, but the woman refused. We are freaking out. There have been A LOT of repairs and loss and now we are worried the insurance company is going to suddenly say they aren't going to pay anything even though I have TONS of emails from them for the past couple of months where they have talked about the payments they agreed to.

Can you please tell me what we could be facing here legally?

Thank you.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MD

My mom has been staying with me in NY as she took VERY ill and I couldn't go stay with her as I have children in school. She had her mail forwarded to come to my home and over the summer, her basement flooded. We have been talking with the insurance company since it happened getting the house repaired. The only thing we were told was we had to fax a copy of the deed to them as the policy was in my grandparents' names but now the house is in my mom's name since their death. We did that. NOTHING has been mentioned about the account being past due much less cancelled for non payment. (My mom JUST got an envelope with a couple of bills in it from a neighbor. We have NO idea why these weren't forwarded by the post office when we know mail is still being forwarded.)

My mom called to make a payment and the woman was very rude to her telling her why did it take so long to get in touch with them. My mom tried explaining and told her she would bring the account current right now, but the woman refused. We are freaking out. There have been A LOT of repairs and loss and now we are worried the insurance company is going to suddenly say they aren't going to pay anything even though I have TONS of emails from them for the past couple of months where they have talked about the payments they agreed to.

Can you please tell me what we could be facing here legally?

Thank you.

The insurance company would have to cover any damage that happened while the policy was still in effect, (before it terminated for lack of payment). However the company does have the option not to renew the policy after lapsing.

 

[You Are Guilty]

The insurance company would have to cover any damage that happened while the policy was still in effect, (before it terminated for lack of payment). However the company does have the option not to renew the policy after lapsing.

A bit early to make that proclamation. In addition to the lack of payment, you have the issue of mom not residing in the house (often, there is an exclusion for "vacant" homes), and the potential lack of an insurable interest, given the incorrect deed.

I'd wait and see how the carrier reacts to the claim.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Also, the policy being held by a non owner, may prevent payout. Policies are rated in part of the owners credit history. If gramma n grandpa are not there to sign a claim, or them not owning the insured property are issues, payout may not be required.

 

[isis297]

The insurance company knows that I brought my mom to my home to care for her, but that we had a relative staying there to keep an eye on things. They were okay with that. We have been under the impression the policy was in effect. The billing office is now saying the policy was cancelled back to July 1st which is before we filed the claim, but I have emails upon emails saying they were covering everything and just telling us what they needed from us. Payment was never one of those things. Can they renig even though we have documents saying they would pay these things? My mom was willing to pay the account in full today, but the woman in billing told her no.

 

[jiggy78]

The insurance company knows that I brought my mom to my home to care for her, but that we had a relative staying there to keep an eye on things.

Do you have that in writing? The reason policies often contain ax exclusion for vacant homes is that it's much more likely there will be greater damage if nobody is living there. Had somebody been at the home at the time the basement flooded it's possible they could have taken steps to mitigate the damage. (or at least moved some of the property to higher ground).

Any promises they made in regards to your claim were conditional on your policy actually being in effect.

Ultimately it is the responsibility of the policy holder to ensure that the insurance is paid up. You should have done a complete review of your mother's finances and bills when she came to live with you and then you would have known the insurance premium had to be paid by a certain date.