How long until home insurance lapses if your payment isn’t made on time?

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It varies according to state law, but it’s possible your homeowners insurance will lapse immediately if you do not make your payment on time. 

While health and life insurance policies may be required by state law to give you a grace period for payments, property and casualty insurance policies (auto and home) typically aren’t mandated to do so. 

Many states do require a 10-day cancellation notice be sent before your homeowners insurance is canceled.  However, it’s possible your state may allow the cancellation notice for nonpayment to be included on your bill and not sent as a separate notice.  This means by the time your due date has arrived, proper notice has already been given, and your home insurance policy can terminate.

If laws in your state don’t require a grace period for home insurance, it’s up to your homeowners insurance provider to decide if it will give you one or not.  To determine if your home insurance company gives you a grace period for payments, read your policy and contact your agent for clarification if necessary. 

If your policy has lapsed due to nonpayment, contact your home insurer as soon as possible to see if you can get it reinstated. You might have to have your home inspected and/or sign a no-loss statement saying nothing occurred during the lapse that you could claim in order to be reinstated without a gap in coverage.

Penny Gusner

Contributor

 

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Penny is an expert on insurance procedures, rates, policies and claims. She has extensive knowledge of all major insurance lines -- auto, homeowners, life and health insurance. She has been answering consumers’ questions as an analyst for more than 15 years and has been featured in numerous major media outlets, including the Washington Post and Kiplinger’s.

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