DIdn't cancel when told and gave wrong date

[AustinBT]

What is the name of your state? INDIANA

I live in Indiana and have a problem with the cancellation of my mobile home insurance. In May we went to change coverage on our auto insurance. Our agent and us then went over our home owners policy. While there she told us we were on a farm policy even though we did not own a farm because they did not have mobile home coverage where we lived. We decided to cancel our insurance with them and go back to our old insurance company. We then asked her to cancel our coverage when our payment expired. Knowing we had a deposit on our auto but not really sure about our home owners she told us to call her for the exact dates the money on our policy would expire. We called her 2 times with this verbal agreement that we would not pay on the policy and given a date. Then we got a bill. We found out after the fact that the date she gave us was false. They even sent me an explanation in writing stating that the date given it was an error on our agent's part, but we still owed the bill unless we could show them we had coverage on our mobile home for the month in question. We believe that they should correct the agent's error and change the policy date to where our verbal contract was agreed to and that no bill would be charged.

*** Please note we do not have a mortgage or a leaseholder on the mobile home or property in question and I believe we are not required by law to have home owner's insurance.

My question is: Do we owe this bill?

 

[alnorth]

Read your policy regarding cancellation. Many times it will say that your notice to cancel must be in writing. (So, anytime I cancel my policies, I usually write a letter, or hand-deliver my cancellation to the agent's office) If that is the case, I guess they could say that a verbal cancellation is invalid. If there is no such provision requiring a written cancellation, you will need to show or have the agent agree that you verbally cancelled on X date.)

All that said, if a written notice was required and you didnt give it, I would still call the insurance company and see if they will work with you, and they might agree to toss the bill. If you are talking a few days, its likely all pro-rated anyway (you wouldnt necessarily owe the whole month, only whatever fraction of a month you had coverage for)

 

[moburkes]

"When the money runs out" (the "carry" date) isn't a good way to determine the cancel date, especially if your insurance charges a cancellation fee (like $50) OR processes cancels using a short rate calculator (a penalty for cancelling early). In both of those cases, no carry date listed on a computer screen are going to take into consideration a fee or short rate policy. Had the policy just lapsed for nonpayment, the cancellation is prorate with the penalty. But, since you requested that the policy cancel on that particular date, you were probably charged a fee, which is why you recieved the final bill (for the fee or penalty).

Some people just aren't good at explaining billing.

 

[AustinBT]

I think you are missing the point. She agreed to cancel the policy. There was no miscommunication. There was no fee. The canceling was not the problem. She told me I was paid up to 7-21 when I was only paid up until 6-21. They said she made an error and I was still responsible for the bill. I didn't know the date I was paid up till and called her and SHE gave me the date that I was paid up to (but made an error).

 

[moburkes]

I think you are missing the point. She agreed to cancel the policy. There was no miscommunication. There was no fee. The canceling was not the problem. She told me I was paid up to 7-21 when I was only paid up until 6-21. They said she made an error and I was still responsible for the bill. I didn't know the date I was paid up till and called her and SHE gave me the date that I was paid up to (but made an error).

Okay, gotcha. Do you pay monthly? You could have figured out your own cancellation date. Take the annual premium divided by 12. That is your monthly "payment". So, for example, if the annual payment is $1200 (for easy numbers), that's $100/month. If you've paid $700, then you've paid for 7 months.

People are allowed to make mistakes. This is something that you could have easily figured out for yourself.
Also, f the policy was going to cancel in June for nonpayment, based on how long your money lasted, then you would have received a cancellation notice with a June date in it - as required by law.

By the way, the cancel carry date is not necessarily the date the policy will cancel. The legal requirement for a cancellation is going to be different than the cancel carry date. For example, your policy could cancel for nonpayment, but you can receive a refund check in the mail.