Insurance notification

[Woody38]

We had insurance with Providence Mutual through Prescott & Melcher on our condo at the lake. This by necessity rather than choice. We notified Providence Mutual in writing to cancel this policy prior to the expiration date.
Now we received a letter from Providence Mutual of cancellation due to non-payment of premium. Has anyone had similar experiences with an insurance company. I will contact the New Hampshire Insurance Department concerning this issue. As you know there could be consequences resulting from an incident such as this, affecting credit rating, denial of insurance coverage and other areas where credit ratings are checked.

[joey2665]

Couple of things:
1) Was the policy previously paid in full or at least past your cancellation date?
2) There could be a short rate charge for early termination
3) Did you send the cancellation via regular or certified mail? Correspondence to an insurance company should always be certified

In any event your broker should have handled this for you that what they received their commission for, to service the policy

[tis]

I had that happen twice. I was concerned too. I called the agent and they said the company knows not to worry about it. As you said, they use your credit rating as one part of insurance costs so would hate to have them think we didn't pay on time. I think it is poor practice though on the insurance companys' part.

[Woody38]

The policy was paid in full for the year. We always pay the full premium yearly and the cancellation was for the policy renewal at the expiration date.
At any rate the new policy is with AMICA and there are no worries with an agent interested in their commission.
I have never heard of contingencies for cancellation. We have moved etc. many times over the years and never had a problem with cancelling a policy or asked to pay short rates.

[joey2665]

Prescott really should be handling this for you, it's what you have a broker for.

[Doobs41378]

Originally Posted by joey2665

Prescott really should be handling this for you, it's what you have a broker for.

I agree with this. They also can backdate it to the date they should have cancelled it the first time you let them know.


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[TiltonBB]

I would write to the agent, the NH Insurance Department, and the insurance company and include a copy of the cancellation notice as well as a copy of your letter notifying them of your decision not to renew. None of the companies want a problem with the regulating authority and I would bet that you will get a letter from the insurance company or agent acknowledging their error.

I had a problem with a NH bank overcharging me for interest on an adjustable rate commercial loan and I appealed to four management people including the Vice President of the bank. (But then again, isn't everyone at a bank either a teller or a VP?) They all told me their position was firm and they were correct. I notified them that I was taking the matter to the NH Banking Department. The following morning the President of the bank called me, apologized, and told me his people were all wrong, and that he had deposited the amount they overcharged me into my checking account that morning and reduced my payment to the correct amount.

When a problem, or problems, with a regulated business get serious enough they will shut that business down. No business wants that.

[AC2717]

In Order to cancel the policy, the request NEEDS to be made in writing so they have it on record. - there is a specific form called an LPR - see below

Procedure to follow should be this:
Contact your agent that writes the policy for you with the carrier. Request that they cancel the policy on the date you request (easiest to show proof of another policy in force, if you need to backdate the cancellation - often times they cannot do this due to laws and have to cancel on the date you contact them)

The agent should make up a form called a LPR (Lost policy release) with the policy information, your information, and the cancel date

they will then send it to you to sign date and return to them and they will forward to the carrier

carrier will process the cancellation request

[Outdoorsman]

Personally, I would call them. Writing on a message board will not solve anything.

As far as writing to the agent and everyone else on the planet (as suggested above)

People seem to make things so unnecessarily difficult these days.

[Newbiesaukee]

Originally Posted by Outdoorsman

Personally, I would call them. Writing on a message board will not solve anything.

As far as writing to the agent and everyone else on the planet (as suggested above)

People seem to make things so unnecessarily difficult these days.

I agree, things are unnecessarily difficult. It would be nice if a simple phone call would work. In my experience, when the issue is important, a phone call does not leave a record and things do need to be in writing and following the "proper" procedure. It should be easier...but it usually isn't.

[Macavity]

Originally Posted by Woody38

We had insurance with Providence Mutual through Prescott & Melcher on our condo at the lake. This by necessity rather than choice. We notified Providence Mutual in writing to cancel this policy prior to the expiration date.
Now we received a letter from Providence Mutual of cancellation due to non-payment of premium. Has anyone had similar experiences with an insurance company. I will contact the New Hampshire Insurance Department concerning this issue. As you know there could be consequences resulting from an incident such as this, affecting credit rating, denial of insurance coverage and other areas where credit ratings are checked.

Why would any of that necessarily happen? I would straighten it out via the broker or the company before reporting it to the NH commission. It might be simple. These letters are made to sound as dire and irritating as possible.

I have never had any of these outcomes, even when dealing repeatedly with collection. There are so many real problems; this may not even be one.

Mac