Will insurance cover a fire if it occurred on the same day a policy was reinstated?

1. 

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   David G. Pipes, CLU®, RICP®

   Business Development Officer, T.D. McNeil Insurance Services, Fresno, California

   The start date and time is the exact moment that coverage begins. If a loss occurs within minutes following the start date and time, the company would be obligated to cover the loss. As you can imagine the claims department will probably look quite closely at the circumstances to determine if fraud was involved in any manner. Fire is such a rare occurrence that a fire happening immediately following reinstatement would raise suspicion.

   Answered on April 10, 2015

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   Jim Winkler

   CEO/Owner, Winkler Financial Group, Houston, Texas

   That is a very good question! It will certainly be something that the insurance company will be very suspicious of, as it is always very coincidental when the policy and claim come in the same day. I'd expect that they will work very hard at showing reason to doubt the fire was a naturally occurring accident that you had no knowledge of beforehand - you weren't aware of any thing that might have contributed to it, let's say.
   The way I read your post, the policy was inforce for nearly an hour before the fire, so they would definitely seem to be be obligated to pay. However, I'd bet there is a clause or some language in the policy that protects the insurer from suspicious or intentional claims, and my best guess is this is where your battle will be fought. I am not a lawyer, and would not give you any legal advice, but if they drag their feet about paying the claim you may want to have one on hand, just in case. Good luck, and thanks for asking!

   Answered on April 13, 2015

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   Tom Sheehan

   Agency Owner, The Thomas G Sheehan Agency, 27 Glen Road Sandy Hook, CT 06482

   It is pretty common and I dare say universal that a policy cancellation takes place at midnignt of the cancellation date. Reinstatements are timed at 12:01 AM .
   I have to be honest with you, If the fire occured at 12:50 AM and the payment was not processed until 11:00 AM, some eleven hours and ten minutes later, I would be prepared to deal with a pretty thorough investigation of the loss. Many companies require a "No Loss Statement" signed by the insured when payment is accepted to reinstate a lapsed policy, others may not.

   Answered on April 13, 2015

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   Greg Roover

   Public Adjuster - Loss Appraiser, Claim Concepts, Florida

   Yes, from what you provided it should in most cases be a covered loss. As long as the fire started AFTER the policy coverage began it would be covered. It does not matter if it started 1 minute after the policy went into effect, it should be covered as long as none of the policies exclusions would apply.

   Answered on May 8, 2015

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   Thad Bynum

   Owner/ Partner, Bynum Insurance Agency, Inc, Clayton, GA

   The insurance company is obligated to pay all just claims anytime the policy is in-force. As mentioned in previous answers, the company will investigate your claim thoroughly to determine the cause of the fire. It would be mighty handy for it to be from lightning as anything else is going to appear very suspicious.

   Answered on May 30, 2015

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   Scott W Johnson

   Manager, Marindependent Insurance Services LLC, California

   This is a fair question.
   
   First off, the insurance policy will not only state a Day but an exact TIME. Typically the exact time is 12:01AM.
   
   However, as numerous others have pointed out: This is literally the definition of suspicious.
   
   Insurance companies will not pay for claims things that happened when they were not the carrier or record of if no insurance was in force.
   
   You should expect that the underwriter will comb through every available piece of evidence that they can.

   Answered on October 5, 2016

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