Do I leave insurance in place after house sale?

L

Lizbet

New Member
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My house is insured until next April and the sale is closing this month. Which of the following do you recommend I do with the policy?
1. Do I leave the insurance in situ, i.e. in my name?
2. Do I inform the insurance company to change the name on the policy to the new owners?
3.Do the new owners have to take out a complete new policy in their names from the closing date?
Thanks
 
You leave it in situ until the closing and the house is no longer yours. Then you cancel it.

The new owners will take out insurance or not as they choose. It's not your business.

You can't just change the name on a policy. They might be a different risk factor e.g. they have a claims history.
 
Depends on the wording of your contract of sale but, under the standard Law Society conditions that are used in most cases, it's your responsibility to maintain the insurance up to completion. From completion onwards insurance is the vendor's responsibility.

In theory you could arrange an assignment of your existing insurance policy to the purchaser from completion, but this is complicated, requires the prior agreement of your insurance company and his lender, and offers no particular advantage to anybody. The usual form is that the purchaser simply effects his own policy with the insurer of his choice, which notes the interest of his lender. You are not involved and, when it comes down to it, it makes no difference to you whether he does this or not.

All you do is notify your own insurer that you completed the sale of the property on [date] and that you have no continuing insurable interest in it. They'll send you a partial refund of the premium for the year.
 
If you are buying another property, you can switch your home insurance policy to that property. You may have to pay a small top up or you may receive a refund, depending on the difference in value between the 2 properties.
 
TomEdison said:
They'll send you a partial refund of the premium for the year.
Click to expand...
If you're lucky. Make sure your banking details and new address are updated to the insurers. Alternatively tell them to use any refund as a partial payment on the policy for your new home.

Crossed :)
 
. . . and don't forget to apply for a refund. You're entitled to it as far as I'm concerned, but it'll be interesting to learn what the insurance company will or will not do.
 
My (admittedly limited) experience is that insurance companies do issue refunds once you notify them that you've sold the property and have no further insurable interest in it. You don't have to apply for the refund; it issues automatically.
 
You inform the insurance company in writing (email) that your house has been sold. This is the day of legal transfer, not the contract date. The insurance company will issue you a refund. (based on now to April)

It is very important you inform the insurance company if your house is vacant (if you've moved out well in advance). A couple of days don't matter.
Insurance companies don't like empty houses.
 
If the new owner is buying the house with a mortgage the bank will insist on them taking out insurance on the property and then named as an interested party.

Insurance companiesvdo issue refunds but they may also charge a processing fee of circa €50 this information should be in your policy document.
 
Once the sale closes you no longer have an insurable interest in the property and therefore no cover is offered and leaving the policy in place is pointless. For peace of mind, at closing send an e-mail to your solicitor asking them to confirm that it is in order to cancel the policy. Once you receive this confirmation contact the insurer, explain that the sale has closed and you want them policy terminated, and ask about the refund. The broker/insurer may charge an admin fee as provided for in their term of business/notice of fees and deduct this from the refund. I’ve just been through this and the net refund was approx 50% of the annual premium.
 
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