House caught on fire, my ex is the main insured. how can i proceed?
i'm insured with safeco. the house caught on fire in march. apparently some changes were never made to the policy, including removing my ex from the policy. he no longer has an ownership interest in the house (except that he is still on the loan). safeco is saying that they can't send the check to me. they have to send it to the primary insured (my ex), and they can't just remove him (it's "illegal").
they want a letter from my ex saying to remove him from the policy. he said he would, but it's been a week, and they haven't seen any letters/faxes from him.
what are my rights? what kinds of things can i say? who is supposed to be helping me with this?
how can i speed this up?
how can i remove my ex?
Find out if they will accept a copy of the deed showing he no longer has an interest in the property. He is a named insured & has a right to know what is going on with the policy, but, I have used a copy of the deed when an ex-spouse is unreachable (sometimes the insured has no contact with the ex & no address for them either). If they will accept a copy of the deed, then maybe they will send a certified letter to your ex that he has been removed from the policy because he no longer has an interest in the house.
Like another answerer said, try taking a letter to him to have him sign (probably 3 copies) & send it to the company with a copy of the deed. To me, the deed is the most important piece because someone can sign off to remove themselves from the policy but still have an interest in the property & then leave themselves uncovered in the event of a loss.
Do you and your ex live in the same area?
Have SafeCo dictate the letter to you. Type it, print it and take it to your ex to sign.
Make or have him sign two originals and then give SafeCo on of the originals. Be friendly, firm and thankful. You'll get it done.
If you don't live close enough. Have SafeCo dictate and mail it to him registered or however he has to sign for receipt of the mail. Send him a properly addressed envelope to SafeCo < with a separate envelope for a copy to you for your records>.
Insurance companies require paperwork.
Courts require paperwork, too, but hopefully you won't need it for court. You have to do this yourself. If you get an attorney involved it will cost.
Good luck! Sorry about the fire!
If this goes on too long without him signing. Call the clerk of court where your divorce was filed and ask for help with how to proceed.
Answers:
If you have divorce papers stating that you are now the owners of the home most companies will accept that. But, most companies will want his signature to remove him. If you are having him removed ask them to remove him back to the date before the fire and they have them reissue the check.
Your ex is the MAIN insured? What does that mean? They are FIRST named insured, and you are second named insured? Your name isn't on the policy at all? Is this an ex SPOUSE, or ex live in?
Safeco will send the check to the peron named on the policy, and the mortgage company.
Policies are NOT transferrable. If the LOAN is in his name, the HOUSE is in his name, most likely. If he did a quitclaim deed over to you, he's responsible for the loan, the deed is in your name, but the policy doesn't have your name on it, Safeco CANNOT take his name off, and they CANNOT transfer the policy to you. AND, it's POSSIBLE they won't pay out, as the policyholder has NO INSURABLE INTEREST on the policy. Legally, they don't have to. So if he sends in that letter that says he doesn't own the house, well, they can deny your claim!!
You HAVE no rights if your name isn't on the policy. YOUR AGENT is supposed to help you out - but if the policy is in his name, it's really HIS agent.
I'd consult an attorney RIGHT NOW. You could be completely out of luck on this. Whoever told him to quit-claim deed the house to you, should have mentioned the insurance aspect.