Will there be a penalty if I cancel my insurance policy?

Will there be a penalty if I cancel my insurance policy?

Sam Friedman (Editor-in-Chief, National Underwriter, Property & Casualty Edition) gives expert video advice on: Do I need insurance?; How much insurance do I need? and more...

Well, that's something you really need to focus on with your insurance agent when you take the coverage. The only penalty that you know for sure is if you cancel your insurance coverage and you're not replacing it with something else, you're going to be left exposed to any losses in the interim. So you want to make sure that there are no gaps in the insurance coverage. If you do cancel your insurance coverage, for instance if you're moving, changing homes or something like that, so that you want to end the insurance coverage for the home you're leaving, you want to make sure that your homeowner's insurance for your new dwelling is in place the day you move in. You do not want to leave a gap, because even one hour could leave you exposed for catastrophic loss.