Can a homeowner have two homeowner's insurance policies on one home?

Answer 1

Yes, you can - there's even a provision in every policy, about how they pay out, if you DO have two policies in place.

But I don't know why you'd want to do it that way - as most losses are partial losses, the rates are highest for coverages under $100,000 - you would still have your deductible, you wouldn't get any more money, AND the companies would be fighting about who has to pay you - delaying the claim resolution.

Answer 2

Yes, you can. This used to happen more when very large homes were unusual, not the norm. What an insurance company would do is say, we only want to insure $250,000 worth of this $500,000 home (years ago this would have been a mansion). Find another company to insure the other $250,000. You would get another company to insure the balance of the home. The best way to handle that would have been to get both policies from the same independent agent so that they knew what was going on. If there was a covered loss, a deductible from each would apply & they would share the cost of the loss 50%/50%. They would each be fully aware of the other & both agree to insure you this way. There is a provision in a standard homeowners policy in the US that addresses this.
If you are purchasing insurance policies to cover double what your house is worth, without the other's knowledge, good luck, they will find out about the other (there are databases) and each will only pay the % of the loss they insure. If they both have the same coverage limits, thery will each cover 50% of the covered loss. You will be paying double the premium for no reason. Then, each may open up an investigation for fraud & delay any claim payment, if they decide to pay at all.

Edit - I guess Fred has not been in the business long enough to know or, it can't be done in his area. We had, until recently a policy written like this (or should I say 2 policies). The size of the house was OVER the maximum that one of our mutual companies (as opposed to a stock company) could write, so 1/2 of the value of the house was written by one company, 1/2 by another. They were BOTH fully aware of the other company and WANTED it that way. Each only had half the risk & the insured had their house insure 100% to estimated replacement value. Neither was a "subscription" policy. Neither was surplus lines, we were not a subproducer. We were the agent for both companies, no other broker, excess market broker or anything was involved. Sorry, Fred, but this does & did happen....

Answer 3

You can have assorted policies on a home, especially in the event that Policy A does not cover one particular hazard, so you obtain Policy B to provide that coverage which is missing from Policy A.

However, it's not astute to 'double cover' the same potential hazard, since you will get paid only from ONE policy, and the two different insurers will fight until the end of time deciding which one was the primary insurer which has to pay out.

As others have said, if you're considering double coverage to get a double payout in the event of a loss, don't even think about it.

Answer 4

Possibly. He might have a basic homeowner's policy, plus an umbrella policy which would take up once the basic policy pays the limit as specified in the policy.
Some basic policies have an umbrella policy included, others do not.
A basic policy might pay just a few thousand, if , for example, a guest would trip and fall. An umbrella policy might pay up to a million dollars or more over and above what the basic policy covers.

Answer 5

Maybe. You could for example have a regular homeowners policy, then a flood insurance policy.

Answer 6

You can, but when you have a claim, and each company finds out about the other policy, they will BOTH fight the claim based on duplicate coverage. Since you can't collect on 2 policies for the same claim, you will be setting yourself up for a situation where nobody wants your claim at all. It is a total waste of money to duplicate coverage, and no agent or broker will knowingly write it.
Specialty insurance markets are a different matter. You may have a commercial policy if you run a business, like a day care in the home, or you may have a flood insurance policy in areas that offer it.

Sue has it wrong, but she does have the right idea. When you are covered by two companies on the same house, it is on a "subscription policy". That is one policy, underwritten by collaborating companies, to certain percentages. Your agent or broker does not write 2 or more policies, he writes one, normally as a sub-broker, you sign one application, and the underwriting company places it on a subscription. I have placed many policies this way. On a subscription policy, there is one policy number, and one, and one only, deductible in the event of a claim. There is also one, and one only, claim report put in, not one for each company on the subscription.

"Subscription Policy
A single policy covering a risk that is divided among a number of insurers; the policy is issued by the "lead" company (usually the one with the largest percentage) and signed by all participating companies." Source: Wawanesa Insurance

If there are 2 owners on the home, one policy is issued in both names. If only one of the owners lives in the home, the first owner is listed for full coverage, the second is listed for liability and the home itself, not for personal property, extra living expenses, etc.

Okay, for the agent that says 2 discreet policies are written at companies' request: I guess there is a reason policies are written by subscription in our market, and have been written that way for a long, long time. It makes for a much fairer method of handling partial loss claims, and there is no argument over who covers what. I have never heard of, nor have any of the members of my brokers' association heard of, writting separate policies for partial coverages on a home. In actual fact, it would be against the law here.

Answer 7

Yes, especially if you live in an area prone to natural disasters. For example, the California wild fires. Normal home insurance does not include protection from wild fires, but does for regular fires. In that case, you would need to buy a second insurance policy that covers protection from wild fires.

Answer 8

No home owner would want two policies on the same home that do the same things! You may, however, obtain additional insurance under the same policy for things such as jewelry, collections, antiques and things of high value that fall outside the limitations of the original policy. There are "Floater" policies for any number of things.

Answer 9

No. If either insurance company found out about the other, it would refuse to pay and you would have a black mark on your record for future insurance.
An exception to this is that you may have special coverage to deal with losses not handled or beyond the limits of the base policy. I have a Lloyds covering exceptional computer equipment and art glass that we own and people in flood areas should have government flood insurance.

Answer 10

I'm sure you can have as many insurance policies as you are willing to pay for...however, you will only collect on one. It's not a way to make money. It makes no sense to do that. If you collected on both of them for the same loss, it would be considered fraud, in my opinion. (I'm not an attorney.)