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With all the natural disasters and losses of property in recent years, insurance carrier's are bleeding, and they are looking for reasons to deny your claim.
So, it is incredibly important that you don't give them any!
Unfortunately, many California residents are facing significant challenges in getting their fire insurance claims approved, with issues ranging from policy non-renewals to delays and disputes over coverage amounts AND EVEN THE NAME ON THEIR HOMEOWER'S INSURANCE POLICY!
The name or names on the title to your home might change for various reasons and seasons in our life such as:
- Marriage
- Divorce
- Death of a partner or spouse
- Estate planning - Placing the property into a Trust
- Risk planning - Placing the property into an LLC
Any of the things above can lead to a name change on the title to your property and, unless you change the named insured(s) on your property and casualty policy (homeowner's insurance), the company may deny a claim. The basis of this is Insurable Interest. Insurance is for the benefit of whoever owns the property or someone with significant interest, such as your mortgage company.
So, if you married or divorced and updated your name on your insurance but not on the title to your property (or vice versa), or...
Let's say you turned your property into a rental and in an attempt to insulate yourself personally from the heightened liability you deeded your rental to your new limited liability company, 123 Easy Street LLC, or...
You finally finished your estate planning with your attorney which includes the creation of a Trust, so you deeded your property to The Smith Family Revocable Living Trust, and...
You fail to update your insurance company with the new name and information, you might find yourself effectively uninsured because the insurance company might claim you don't actually have insurable interest.
So, if anything has changed in your life or you foresee a change coming, please reach out to us here at MVP so we can provide you with our thoughts (not legal advice) and referrals to professionals who specialize in such things. It pays to confirm you are protected for a catastrophic event that could otherwise leave you and your family destitute.
by Matthew Plummer, CEO