can i get a refund for paid homeowners insurance if i decide to go through another company?

Obtaining a refund for paid homeowners insurance is possible depending on the type of payments set up with the insurance provider that you are considering leaving. There are three types of payments found with homeowners insurance.

• Yearly Renewal
• 6 Month Renewal
• Monthly Renewal

Now to obtain a refund you would need to have paid for an allotment of time that has not passed yet for a refund. Most insurance companies will pro-rate from the date you cancel your policy to the date your renewal expires. It is likely if you have a 1 year or 6 month renewal you may obtain a refund if you are not cancelling in your renewal expiration month.

For Example:

Lets say you paid for an entire year of service in April, and you decide in June two months later you want to switch to a company with lower premiums or more coverage. Upon cancelling your coverage may not stop until the end of the monthly period of June and you will then be pro-rated and paid back the sum of what you paid for July to April of the following year.
Typically the refund is mailed to you in the form of a check to the address on file with the insurance company on your cancelled plan within 30 to 60 days of closing the account depending on the insurance company. You could take that check and reapply it towards the cost of your new insurance premiums or invest it back into your checking account to do as you wish with.

If you have a mortgage things may be a bit more complicated than described above. A mortgage company typically pays your insurance upfront and you then make payments to those insurance premiums in monthly installments because the mortgage company has already paid everything upfront. Some mortgage companies will allow you to change providers but you will owe the mortgage company the sum of the unpaid yearly balance on your account.

To put things simply you receive a refund from the insurance company you need to forward to your mortgage company as payment off the remaining yearly balance. Once the old policy is cancelled your mortgage company will give you the all clear to move to any eligible insurance providers through your mortgage policy if the policy allows.