Can I file a claim with two insurance companies?

​It’s not uncommon for people to double up on their insurance by accident. For instance, your car insurance may come with breakdown cover included, but you might also be paying for a separate breakdown policy, not realising that one already comes with your insurance. Alternatively, you may have purchased insurance from a new provider but didn't cancel your existing policy, resulting in two separate home insurance policies.

If you do have two insurance policies, read on to find out whether you can claim on them both.

Can you file a claim with two separate providers?

If you have double cover, you can file a claim with both providers.

However, each insurer would need to be made aware of the situation and it can complicate the process, meaning it’ll take longer for you to be compensated. It’s always worth noting that you can insure yourself against loss but you should never profit from it. This means you will not be compensated twice, as this could be classed as insurance fraud.

Whether you have two insurance policies or one, you should receive the same amount of compensation in total.

Can a provider reject a claim if two are made?

Occasionally, though this is quite rare, an insurance policy may state that if there is additional insurance in place through another provider, you won’t be able to make a claim.

For instance, if you have two home insurance policies that are both active, one insurer may be able to state that the policy is void because of the second policy. In this scenario, you should see if the other provider will allow you to make a claim.

When is it advisable to have two insurance policies? 

The reasons above demonstrate why double cover is inadvisable and why it can cause more problems than it solves. However, it’s worth noting that having two separate policies is perfectly acceptable if you have contents insurance with one provider and buildings insurance with another.

This is because they’re very different things - contents insurance covers most of the belongings inside your home whereas buildings insurance protects the building itself, including the walls, floors and doors. As they are separate and don’t cover the same items, you could have buildings insurance with one provider and contents insurance with another provider and claim on both. However, it’s likely that they will still need to liaise during the process.

Alerting your insurance provider of two policies 

It's not uncommon, especially with car insurance, for someone to set up a new policy but forget to cancel their old policy, especially if your policy automatically renews and you're unaware of this. 

Once you realise there are two conflicting insurance policies in place, you should contact the provider you no longer want cover from and explain the situation to their team. In some instances, the insurer may backdate their cancellation to when the previous cover started, though this will vary between providers. 

As previously explained, it’s fine to have contents and buildings insurance with separate providers. In the instance of a fire or flood, for example, both your contents and your home itself will likely have sustained damage. In this instance, you should contact each of your providers separately and file a claim.

If you have any further questions about how the claims process works, your provider will also be happy to guide you through the process.