The death of a loved one can be a difficult and emotional time. With a lot to organise, home insurance should not be something that adds more stress or worry. With that in mind, we’ve enlisted the help of our home insurance experts for an insight into what happens to a home insurance policy when the policyholder passes away.
Below we have outlined three of the most common situations that occur after the death of a policyholder, with information on what to do in each scenario:
1. The home insurance policy is held in joint names
In this case, the home insurance cover will continue as before. However, the joint policyholder needs to contact us to update the policy into their sole name.
2. The home insurance policy is only in the name of the deceased policyholder but a spouse or partner lives in and legally owns and/or has inherited the property
When a spouse or partner of the deceased policyholder lives in the insured property, the home insurance can remain in place until it is due for renewal. At renewal, we can arrange for the existing policy to be transferred into the spouse or partner’s name or arrange for a new policy in their name, as appropriate. You will need to contact us at renewal to effect a new policy or to transfer into the name of the spouse or partner.
3. No one else legally owns the property
When no person legally owns the property, it will go into probate and the home insurance policy can be maintained by those looking after the financial affairs of the deceased. The title/policyholder on the policy can be amended to read ‘The Representatives of the deceased’. Confirmation from a solicitor will usually be required to confirm who the executor of the will is, so we know who we can deal with in relation to the insurance policy. Depending on the occupancy of the house (i.e., occupied, or non-occupied), cover can continue on the same basis or on a reduced basis (if unoccupied) while we await confirmation of the executor. Once the representatives are confirmed they can instruct us in relation to the home insurance policy and they can maintain cover (renew the policy) until the estate of the deceased has been fully settled.
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