I got a letter from my mortgage provider saying my home insurance expired three months ago and that there would be issues with my mortgage as a result. Turns out the insurance company had been sending correspondence to the wrong address and had failed to try and contact us any other way ( phone, email, etc). They are refusing to resume the cover however and want us to start a whole new application process, ten years on. Any ideas if there is any other way of getting this sorted as I am guessing any new quote is going to be way higher than we are currently paying. And the mortgage provider is getting shifty as well. No arrears or anything like that.
Correspondence sent to wrong address
- Thread starter Nialler
- Start date
Are the insurance company refusing to renew your Home Insurance. If so have they stated a reason. If there is no refusal why not try a number of Insurance companies directly or ring around a number of brokers. I would never stay with the one Insurance company for 10 years as like a lot of others in the financial area they do not encourage loyalty.
DrMoriarty
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Did you change address between renewals, or did someone in the insurance company simply enter it wrongly or get two customers mixed up?
They'd be on very dodgy ground (Data Protection Act, etc.), if the latter.
They'd be on very dodgy ground (Data Protection Act, etc.), if the latter.
I don't think it's unreasonable that you have to start a new policy at this stage as your previous one has lapsed regardless of whoever's fault it is.
There is also no reason to believe it will be more expensive than what you were paying, in fact if you have stayed with the same provider for the last 10 yrs without shopping around you might actually find you can get a better quote.
There is also no reason to believe it will be more expensive than what you were paying, in fact if you have stayed with the same provider for the last 10 yrs without shopping around you might actually find you can get a better quote.
Does your cert of insurance and policy documentation have the correct address? If not you may have been paying insurance on an invalid policy for 10 years!!
As others have said, shopping around almost always saves you money.
Have your mortgage provider expanded on what these problems might be?
As others have said, shopping around almost always saves you money.
Have your mortgage provider expanded on what these problems might be?
Hi. If your insurance company were sending correspondence to the wrong address and you had not moved, rented out etc, then they may have breached the Data Protection Acts. You could complain to the Data Protection Commissioner via www.dataprotection.ie. They might change their tune in a gesture of apology.
DrMoriarty
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Because letting banks and insurance companies off the hook for shoddy practice — and of course we don't yet know whether that's the case here — is exactly the kind of thing that.... oh, never mind. 
I'd suggest you do both. Ring around for a new quote — always a good idea — and then, if appropriate, call them out on it once you know what your options are.
I'd suggest you do both. Ring around for a new quote — always a good idea — and then, if appropriate, call them out on it once you know what your options are.
Steven Barrett
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If they want to start the process again and it's going to be more expensive, then it could well be life cover.
What are the circumstances around sending it to the incorrect address? Did you move? If you were paying for 10 years, did you not have it on DD?
The letters sent out are all computer generated these days. Written instruction is a much better way of satisfying proof of correspondence rather than phone calls.
Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie
D
Descart
Guest
Nialler,
If the problem is not of your making and the fault lies with the insurance company, they are not within their rights to ask you to re apply for a new insurance policy. I agree with the poster Slim, that if the problem lies with the home insurance company, that there has been a breach of the data protection act and that once you have informed the insurance company of this fact ( and you are correct in your assertion ), they are bound by legislation to inform the commissioner of the said breach.
If the problem is not of your making and the fault lies with the insurance company, they are not within their rights to ask you to re apply for a new insurance policy. I agree with the poster Slim, that if the problem lies with the home insurance company, that there has been a breach of the data protection act and that once you have informed the insurance company of this fact ( and you are correct in your assertion ), they are bound by legislation to inform the commissioner of the said breach.
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Steven Barrett
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