Hi, quick question to all the ozgeniuses!!
My house I sold settles on 3rd April.
My annual policy is due for it on 29th March.
I know you can get refund on unused portion after payment, but do they also return the Fire Service Levy and Stamp Duty (about a quarter of the insurance bill)?
What would be best option.
I am currently overseas so cannot call my insurance company.
TIA.
Absolute worst advice. If the house (heaven forbid) burnt down in that 5 day period, no sale, and no insurance. OP just suffered a financial ruin loss.
This sort of thing does warrant an overseas call to your insurance company. Call them and find out.
I said, "I personally wouldn't…"
If you didn't want anyone else to listen to your opinion, why did you bother to write it down?
I personally wouldn't bother either.
Just buy a new policy online and then cancel it.
You have 14 days to get a full refund.
Use the phone instead - you can get a cover note for 21 days at no cost.
Online forces you to make payment upfront and then you have to chase a refund. With a phone-based cover note you don't have to make payment upfront, and after 21 days if you have not made payment then the insurance is automatically cancelled.
I would also recommend that except that the OP wrote 'I am currently overseas so cannot call my insurance company.'
Renew the policy and after settlement cancel it. You will get a refund for the unused period including the levy and stamp duty.
Ring you insurer. If you are using them for other policies, or a new residence, they might just extend your cover for the 5 days if you ask them nicely enough - or you might need to pester them.
Alternatively you could ask for an extension to pay the premium due to some circumstances beyond your control. I once got an extension (before online payments) because I couldn't make it to the post office to pay on time due to working. They gave me an extra couple of weeks.
Would home insurance be anything like car insurance, where you can get a cover note giving you a few days before you have to pay?
Insurance cover always has a cooling off period. It's at least 14 days, maybe 30. Just find a new insurer then cancel later for full refund.
Thanks all for your responses.
Yes I will call or email them before the due date and sort it out (
Looking at your options given. In order of preference, it looks like:
1) Cover note giving few extra days to pay
2) Request 1 week extension
3) Pay by the month and request refund after 5 days
4) Pay by the year and request refund after 5 days
My main concern was I wasn't going to get Fire Levy and Stamp Duty refunded
Most insurance policies have a grace period. If you pay up to x days late, they consider it as if you paid on time. If you fail to pay by that time, you are then uncovered from the date the policy should have expired.
Check your policy for it's grace period, then just don't pay it if it's more than 5 days.
I don't see how you cannot call your insurance company when you are overseas when you have access to internet. If you really can't then just give your details (Insurance # and DOB etc.) to a trusted family/friend in Australia to enquire on your behalf (obviously they need to pretend to be you)
Buy some Skype credit and call your insurance company.
Had the same insurance expiry date issue (however was in country so that helped), i went to the insurance company, expecting to pay for a month and they extended it for 2 weeks for free.
might have helped that i have a bunch of other policies with them but it was a nice surprise.
Can you extend the insurance for one month? I did it with Coles Insurance and paid $50 for that month ( total was around $550)