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Not sure I understand twingles. The money used to pay the premium was from my escrow account.
The escrow account was funded by me through monthly mortgage payments. The lender paid the insurance with my money.
You didn't get back your escrow account overage at closing or shortly thereafter?
Regardless you should be due a refund, it's really not that complicated. You had no insurable interest in the property once you closed and that's easily proven. A lot will depend on the insurance company (i.e. it's a lot easier to get this taken care of with an agent than a direct seller).
Even if there had been a loss to the property - again - there's no insurable interest, and there's no way your HO insurance company would have found out about it to be asked to make payment. That would assume your new owners knew your policy hadn't been cancelled and tried to put in a claim against that possible...which would be pretty unlikely.
Lesson learned - don't rely on others to do things for you. Ever.
Sorry, skipping straight to reply. When you sell a home (or a car), the first thing you do is cancel your insurance. You may get lucky, since you were no longer the owner, it's unlikely they would have paid out on a claim, even if it burned to the ground. You don't pay a claim on a home your customer no longer owns. It's all going to come down to their policy and procedures and your state insurance regulations.
I checked closing docs and did not see any type of credit on my account for the insurance.
I've sold several homes all with insurance paid by mortgage company and never had to cancel the insurance myself. I think the mortgage company cancelled it in those instances, but not sure.
No. HO ins. would be like utilities. One of the things the seller has to cancel and give them an exact date. It's not like property taxes, that the title company prorates and handles. They don't owe you a refund, if in fact they carried you as an insured all this time. But maybe they'll give you one, anyway.
If you had bought your new ins. from the same company, they probably would have communicated with each other to transfer your account.
It is your responsibility to call and cancel the homeowners policy. The cancellation is not done through the mortgage company or the closing, nor is the refund handled at closing. They probably will give you a refund, but next time you sell a home, be sure to call them and let them know the closing date. You'll receive your refund check in the mail, not at closing.
Also all of my loans REQUIRED me to carry home owners insurance. As the borrower I could not just call the insurance company and cancel it.
Yes, actually you can. If I decide to use a new insurance company, I call the previous insurance company and cancel that policy, even if my insurance is paid through escrow. And when you make that call you tell the insurance company the date the policy should end. All that the lender wants is to know you have insurance.
I checked closing docs and did not see any type of credit on my account for the insurance.
I've sold several homes all with insurance paid by mortgage company and never had to cancel the insurance myself. I think the mortgage company cancelled it in those instances, but not sure.
YOU as the owner of the home has to call the insurance company and request for the insurance to be canceled!! Legally I don't think your mortgage company can! The process the insurance company told you is correct. They need proof of when it was canceled so they can backdate the cancelation and you will receive a refund for funds due to you.
Also all of my loans REQUIRED me to carry home owners insurance. As the borrower I could not just call the insurance company and cancel it.
Of course you can cancel! You can cancel at any time; however, if you have a loan you have to provide your mortgage company with a copy of your new policy of they will force place insurance. Your mortgage company has NO control over your policy and can not cancel it for you. Insurance company needs your approval for cancelation.
Recently I received a renewal notice from my former home owners' insurance company. The renewal was for my former house which I closed on March 21, 2017. The policy renewed February 25, 2017. The policy was paid through my mortgage company from the beginning of my loan on the house.
I phoned the insurance company and advised the house was sold almost a year ago. They confirmed the policy is still active.
They said to send closing docs to them which I did.
Is there anything else I need to do? Am I owed any refund? Makes me very nervous that my name was still on the insurance policy for almost a year. I don't understand why it wasn't cancelled when I sold the house.
Any insight or advise greatly appreciated.
Something similar happened to us. Our mortgage company paid the insurance on what would soon be our former home in October 2015. We put the house on the market in March 2016, accepted an offer, & closed in June, 2016.
We got a bill from the insurance company forwarded to our new address in October 2016, & were surprised. Called the closing company who verified insurance had not been prorated. Called our former mortgage company which confirmed they had sent the insurance payment in 2015 to the insurance company—call them for the refund. Our insurance was through Universal. Like your company, they wanted copies if closing docs & warranty deed. Also had to sign one of their forms. Got our refund, prorated, so about 6 months of payments (July - December).
Good luck. You should be fine.
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