Paying two lots of insurance for the same thing....
Paying two lots of insurance for the same thing....
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chrisga

Original Poster:

2,128 posts

203 months

Thursday 7th July 2011
quotequote all
Let me describe a scenario some ermm friends need help with.....

Couple A, lets call, them have home insurance. One reckons they can get the insurance cheaper and with more cover by switching insurers. So the other reckons this is a good thing and encourages it and leaves the other to go away and sort it, while cancelling the current expensive policy. Skip a few months, and one of the couple has a flick through bank statements and cannot see any payments being made to what they think is the new insurance company. So they are v worried about this and so rush to set up a new policy (its building/contents insurance we're talking about here) as they think that they havent had cover for the last 5 months, and knowing their luck the house will fall down that night. So they quickly trawl the internet and low and behold the same company they think was cheapest last time they looked is still the cheapest (M&S lets say in this example). So couple A ring up and arrange a new insurance policy through M&S. Skip another few months and they then totally again fail to notice that payments arent going out to M&S so in a blind panic that the house still isnt insured, think something is odd and search for the paperwork associated with said policy. It turns out that they are actually being insured by AXA so payments have been being made direct to them. And yes, you guessed it when we (ooh damn did i not let on that its us...) look through bank statements we had actually been paying AXA from the first time we setup insurance with M&S.

So my question is: As I am about to ring up and cancel one of the policies, should I ask for a refund on one of them as their computer system hasnt flagged up that two people with the same surname have arranged to insure the same property with payments being made from the same bank accounts with all correspondance going to the same address?

I think I may have read somewhere that insuring the same thing twice is illegal as you could claim twice for the same thing. So can they keep our money? I know its our fault for being stupid so am fully expecting to lose this money.

Yes, yes, I know we should keep a closer eye on our accounts (bills go from joint account which has enough put in each month just to cover all outgoings andd isnt used for anything else at all so isnt really checked very often). Feel free to add lecture below....

Oddboy86

194 posts

199 months

Thursday 7th July 2011
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I'm pretty sure if you just explain what has happened, they'll cancel the second policy and refund/credit you. Just a case of dual insurance. It is a poor shout their system didn't pick it up though.

chrisga

Original Poster:

2,128 posts

203 months

Thursday 7th July 2011
quotequote all
Yep thanks oddboy. Just spoke to them and got a really helpful guy in their help centre. They are refunding one of the policies.

The guy was very helpful and polite. Thumbs up for M&S home insurance (havent had to claim but hope if we ever do its as trouble free as that conversation)!

Edited by chrisga on Thursday 7th July 20:11