Who is the insured on a homeowners insurance policy if the insured dies?

Question

About a month before she died, my Aunt transferred her house into my name using a quit claim deed. We did not talk about her homeowners insurance. After she died, I could not find any information on who her agent was or who the company was. When the premium bill came, I promptly paid it. About a month later, the company sent a letter asking if anyone was living in the house. The house is vacant. I gave them details on me and a copy of the death certificate and the deed and explained the situation. I never heard from them again. The question is, typically, does coverage cease when the insured passes away? Or does it automatically transfer when the house changes ownership? The house is free and clear by the way.

Answer 1

Oh, bummer.

Well, to answer the first question . . . the executor of the estate is an insured, while the estate is being settled, along with the estate of the deceased. Vacancy does become an issue, so likely the company will be cancellling or nonrenewing the policy, but it DOESNT MATTER. More on that . . .

HOWEVER, homeowners policies aren't transferrable, so HER policy is irrelevant, if she quit claim deeded the house to YOU. YOU need your OWN policy. Her policy doesn't cover YOUR house. So right now, the house is uninsured. The policy doesn't transfer - not automatically, not with effort. You have to buy your own policy.

For a vacant property policy, it's EXPENSIVE. And the coverage isn't very broad. Contact a local agent who sells Foremost Insurance - www.foremost.com - they have the BEST price for vacant properties.

Answer 2

An insurance policy is, in many ways, like a piece of property. It is owned by the individual who purchased it. Also, keep in mind that it is a contract between the insurance company and the insured. Rarely will a contract automatically transfer. There needs to be some sort of re-negotiating of the contract with the new parties.

To answer your specific question, the estate of your aunt becomes the insured, but only temporarily. The insurance company will generally non-renew the policy at the end of the policy period.

What probably happened in your situation is that the company put a vacancy endorsement on the policy. This will generally result in a non-renewal as well since vacant houses are generally the ones that get vandalized, burned down, etc.

Since the house is now yours, you need to make some decisions since you have a very large investment out there. The insurance policy, should you choose to purchase one (and I recommend that you do), would be yours.

Answer 3

When your aunt signed the deed over to you - you became the legal owner of the home. As such, you have to get your own policy - you can't keep her policy on the home.

Here's an example to consider: You own a car and run an add in the paper and sell the car. Do you expect the new buyer to just continue the insurance policy you had in your name on the car? - Of course not. You don't own the car any more. Same thing with the house. Just because your aunt gave the house to you (a relative) does not matter. You are the legal owner and have to get your own policy.

Most likely your aunts insurance company will refund the money you paid them. Their coverage ended when the deed was signed over to you.

Answer 4

the insurance would temporarily transfer to you, but most companies will cancel a policy due to the house being vacant.