Home insurance period of cover

Wingit

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Would welcome some views on this. I bought a home insurance policy online from Allianz and the following day they sent through the receipt/documentation. When I got to Page 16 of the documentation which is titled the “New Business Schedule”, I discovered the period of cover was from 16.00 and there would have been a gap in cover between the expiration time of the old policy and new policy, and the property would not be covered during this gap in insurance in the event it was damaged and/or destroyed from midnight to 16.00.

When I phoned the company to query this, they said the time of their home policies start at 16.00. When I asked for the period of cover to be midnight the answer was no. When I asked if the policy could be brought forward to the current date (I'd have to cancel the old policy), again the answer was no. No reasonable accommodation whatsoever. Long & short of it, there was no information provided at the proposal stage of the period of cover being from 16.00.

Has anybody else come across this at all or how many unsuspecting people taking out policies don't realise they're not covered? The solution they offered was to phone me back in 24 hrs after they consulted with the underwriters - which was not reasonable given the issue was time critical. I cancelled the policy & bought a new policy elsewhere. Should the period of cover not be uniform across all insurance providers to aid moving between providers or at least that you can specify the period that you require cover from. The explanation I got yesterday was it is a "business decision". Still waiting for the refund too.
 
I did ask if the policy could be brought forward to 16.00 that day (which I would have had to cancel the old policy because you cannot be doubly insured) - the answer was no. Had I not looked through the Policy, I'd have been none the wiser, unless the house was destroyed or damaged & have found myself with a nasty shock with no policy being in place.. You would think the time of expiration of the existing policy would be information a new insurer would need to gather in order to provide a product appropriate to the customer.
 
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I did ask if the policy could be brought forward to 16.00 that day (which I would have had to cancel the old policy because you cannot be doubly insured) - the answer was no.
That makes no sense.
The insurer shouldn't care when you take the policy out or if it's doubly insured for a few hours.
It might be an issue if there was a claim arising when there's double cover in place but not otherwise.

As far as I know different insurers start may have different start times for their cover. And there's no standard start time even if many (most?) start at 00:00 or 00:01 in my experience.
 
Nothing they said made any sense tbh, including the bit where they expected us to wait 24 hrs with no cover in place while they ask the underwriters. The period of cover from & to is very clearly explained on the new schedule of cover. Policies we've had were at midnight. This was a first.
 
You’re making a mountain out of a mole hill. You should have taken out the insurance from 16:00 the day before. You should have said I need insurance from Tuesday at 16:00. Then if something happened between 16:00 and midnight use your old insurance cover. If something happens after midnight use the new insurance cover.

If queried just say. I needed insurance in place from midnight and thus started the coverage from the day before as my new insurance company rolls over at 16:00. You weren’t doubly insured you just had policies that overlapped slightly due to different roll over times.

Alternatively you could have contacted you old insurance company and said please cease cover at 16:00, I don’t need a refund for the last 8 hours of the policy, thanks. Even if they refuse the call would still be on record and your intention not to be doubly insured would be clear.
 
Has anybody else come across this at all or how many unsuspecting people taking out policies don't realise they're not covered?
I think the OP has a point. If I take out annual insurance starting, let's say, on 1 March, I don't expect it to start two thirds of the way through that day. And don't expect to have to read through 16 pages of their policy document to find that out - after buying the policy. Most people wouldn't know they weren't insured for an 8 hour period.
 
You’re making a mountain out of a mole hill. You should have taken out the insurance from 16:00 the day before. You should have said I need insurance from Tuesday at 16:00. Then if something happened between 16:00 and midnight use your old insurance cover. If something happens after midnight use the new insurance cover.

If queried just say. I needed insurance in place from midnight and thus started the coverage from the day before as my new insurance company rolls over at 16:00. You weren’t doubly insured you just had policies that overlapped slightly due to different roll over times.

Alternatively you could have contacted you old insurance company and said please cease cover at 16:00, I don’t need a refund for the last 8 hours of the policy, thanks. Even if they refuse the call would still be on record and your intention not to be doubly insured would be clear.

The expectation that you're informed of all information pertinent to a financial product before you complete a contract & that you're not in fact covered in the event of a house being destroyed or damaged is not making a mountain out of a mohill. The schedule with this info was buried 16 pages in on the PDF. How do people know they need to take the policy out at 16.00 on the previous day if the insurance company doesn't bother communicating their period of cover is from 16.00 at the proposal stage of the process? Switching providers should be seamless, it shouldn't leave people without any cover being in place. If you re-read what I said, I did ask the new insurer if I could change the date & the answer was no. So I could hardly have taken out a policy the day previous when the answer was a flat no.
 
You can be double insured, it is just the front line staff are programed to say you cannot. However, there is probably a clause to say you cannot benefit from double insurance. Ie one policy pays out or the insurance companies decide between how much each has to pay. A hassle they don't want to deal with!
 
It is an odd time of the day to start a policy! I presume most people would think it covered the full day.

That said I would always pick the day before old policy expired just in case. There is no reason why you cannot have two policies in place at same time, it simply means they both won't pay out unlike for example life cover.

It happened quite a bit years ago when insurances were often included in mortgage repayments, someone would discover months/years later that they had gone off and got a separate policy and both would be in effect. Once it came to light they could get a refund which was usually given 50/50 by both companies and cancel one of the policies. You wouldn't get a refund for having two life policies as they would both pay out in the event of a valid claim unlike two buildings polcies.
 
You’re making a mountain out of a mole hill.

That's what I thought too.

Exactly how is the OP making a mountain out of a mole hill, if you buy insurance you expect it to start at midnight unless it is specified at the time of buying that it starts at a different time, also the OP said that it was highlighted on page 16 of the insurance schedule when the time started not on page 1 or when the OP brought the insurance policy.

What would happen if the OP missed the time on page 16, and something happened that the OP had to claim on the insurance policy, then the so call mountain out off a mole hill becomes a major problem for the OP as the insurance policy didn't start yet and the OP be left uninsured.

That is 16 hours the OP was potentially left without insurance and you call the making a mountain out of a mole hill.
 
if you buy insurance you expect it to start at midnight unless it is specified at the time of buying that it starts at a different time
I wouldn't. I'd expect it to start at the time that's mentioned at the time of purchase. I've seen 00:00, 00:01 and possibly other times for different policies over the years. The specific start time was always clearly stated before the purchase was completed. I'd never assume that it was going to start at midnight.
 
I wouldn't. I'd expect it to start at the time that's mentioned at the time of purchase. I've seen 00:00, 00:01 and possibly other times for different policies over the years. The specific start time was always clearly stated before the purchase was completed. I'd never assume that it was going to start at midnight.

The OP mention that it was Allianz, i went onto there website and guess what it doesn't indicate when purchasing insurance that it starts at 16:00 hrs, it asks you for the date but no where does it specify when you filling in the form that it starts at 16:00 hours

The OP mention that it was bury on page 16 of the insurance policy document, not on page 1 but page 16.
 
I wouldn't. I'd expect it to start at the time that's mentioned at the time of purchase. I've seen 00:00, 00:01 and possibly other times for different policies over the years. The specific start time was always clearly stated before the purchase was completed. I'd never assume that it was going to start at midnight.
It should be declared on the website beside the field where you are entering the date.

The point is that it is not mentioned at the time of purchase. It's buried in the small print.
 
I wouldn't. I'd expect it to start at the time that's mentioned at the time of purchase. I've seen 00:00, 00:01 and possibly other times for different policies over the years. The specific start time was always clearly stated before the purchase was completed. I'd never assume that it was going to start at midnight.

I'd expect the specific start time to communicated prior to the completion of the contract & esp. if there are differences between the different providers, so that customers have all the information necessary in order to complete the contract. What's the likelihood that major players in the insurance industry don't know the start time of their competitors policies? The policy wasn't emailed until the following day & the schedule with that info were on Page 16. How many people are likely to read 16 pages in reality? They should be upfront with this sort of key information instead of obscuring it. The agent weren't even able to locate the info on the Policy - I had to tell him which page he needed to scroll to. The Consumer Protection Code is very clear on that.
 
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