We always send a copy to your mortgage company letting them know you switched, as well as a copy to you showing your mortgage company listed as lienholder. It’s also advisable for the homeowner to call the mortgage company directly to let them know.
Imagine you’ve just signed on a new homeowners policy that saves you $400 a year. The new policy is bound, the dec page is in your inbox, and the old policy is set to cancel in two weeks. Three months later, your mortgage servicer sends a letter saying they cannot find proof of insurance on file and warning that force-placed coverage will be added if you don’t respond. What went wrong? Almost always, the answer is a notification that fell through the cracks between the new carrier, the old carrier, and the lender. The fix is simple — and it’s why the homeowner’s direct call to the mortgage company matters even when the agency has already sent paperwork.
The moment your new policy is bound, we send a certificate of insurance and a copy of the declarations page to the mortgage company listed on the policy. That document shows the lender as the lienholder, includes the loan number, and provides the premium and coverage amounts. The carrier also transmits an electronic endorsement directly to the lender’s insurance tracking service. You receive a copy of the same documents so you have a record on your side. For a broader view of how we handle communication during a switch, see our explainer on having one point of contact after the switch.
Even with the agency notification handled, a 10-minute call from the homeowner directly to the mortgage servicer makes the update land faster on the lender’s internal records. Here is the short checklist for that call:
Most servicers will update their records on the spot. A few require you to upload the dec page through their online portal — if that is the case, you’ll be told during the call. For background on why these steps prevent issues later, our piece on escrow paying the old company by mistake covers the most common failure mode.
Before you call the lender, pull out your new declarations page and confirm three things: the mortgagee clause names the correct lender, the loan number is correct, and the coverage amount is at or above your loan balance. The mortgagee section is usually toward the bottom of the dec page, and it should look like a formal block with the lender name, ISAOA/ATIMA language, and the mailing address. If anything is wrong, call us before you call the lender — we’ll have the carrier reissue the dec page with corrections. While you have us on the line, you can also ask about a roof coverage review or whether your homeowners coverage limits are still appropriate.
The old policy should cancel on the same day the new policy starts — not before, not after. We coordinate that cancellation date with you when binding, and we recommend keeping the overlap to zero or one day. Two carriers being active for an extended window doesn’t hurt coverage, but it does create confusion with escrow disbursements. If you’d like a deeper look at cancellation mechanics, our explainer on canceling your old insurance policy correctly covers the steps.
If your old policy was paid up for the year through escrow, the old carrier will refund the unused portion to the escrow account once cancellation is processed. That refund typically takes two to four weeks. The lender then reconciles the escrow account, and you’ll either see a smaller monthly payment, a surplus refund check, or both. The reconciliation timing depends on when the servicer runs its annual analysis. For more on the refund process, see our walkthrough on refunds from the old insurance company.
Keep digital copies of the new declarations page, the binding confirmation email from the agency, and the cancellation letter from the old carrier. Save the date and time of your call to the mortgage company along with the representative’s name. These are the documents that resolve any future dispute in 30 seconds instead of 30 days. To explore additional homeowners coverage options, you can review our homeowners insurance page or request a personal insurance quote to start a fresh comparison.
Give us a call today and we can help.
Website Made By Aelieve Digital Marketing
