The Difference between Cancellations and Non Renewals

Insurance companies can choose not to carry your policy in two ways: cancellations and non-renewals. Find out why one may not be your fault while the other can cripple your ability to get cheap home insurance in the future.

After you get home insurance quotes and select an insurance policy, you and your insurance provider enter into an agreement for coverage for a set period of time. When the policy is over, one of the benefits is that you have the choice to terminate the insurance policy and search for home insurance online to get a better quote or deal.

However, there are also scenarios where the insurance company can terminate the contract. Two of the most common are cancellation and non-renewal. While these might seem similar, they are in fact two very different terms with different meanings to your short-term and long-term ability to get cheap home insurance.

A cancellation means that your insurance provider has terminated your homeowners insurance policy before the term of the policy was complete. There are two main reasons this happens: either you failed to make a premium payment or committed fraud by either filing a bogus claim or lying on your application. Having a cancellation on your record will be seen as a significant black mark against you when trying to get free home insurance quotes in the future.

Non-renewals are a different matter. This happens when the insurance company decides not to renew your policy. This can be done for any number of reasons, such as a company deciding to no longer offer a certain type of coverage or having too many people covered in your area. Because of this, a non-renewal is typically not seen as a negative when getting home insurance in the future.

Alvin Michaels is a writer based in Pocatello Falls, Idaho who has written about the insurance industry for several major online news sites, newspapers and magazines.