united-states insurance is-x-legal
Is it legal for a broker of insurance to cancel your policy if they do not send you the warning-letter from the insurance company about cancellation?
<p>Is it legal for a broker of insurance to cancel your policy if they do not send you the warning-letter from the insurance company and they put things on your insurance policy that you never asked for?</p>

<p>There are two separate questions here, cancellation and adding stuff. As for cancellation, you have to look at the applicable laws. In Washington state, for example, <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=48.18.290" rel="nofollow noreferrer">there is a law</a> governing insurer cancellation of insurance. For insurance other than fire and medical malpractice insurance,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The insurer must deliver or mail written notice of cancellation to the
named insured at least forty-five days before the effective date of
the cancellation</p>
</blockquote>
<p>and for medical malpractice, the timing is 90 days; or 5 days for fire insurance. The net result is that all forms of insurance require written notice of cancellation.</p>
<p>The terms of an insurance policy can be changed by the insurer: they must tell you of these changes, and you do not have to &quot;ask for&quot; them. If you don't like the changes, you can attempt to persuade them to not make the change, or you can cancel the insurance.</p>
<p>Whether or not an insurance broker is authorized by the insurer to act in a particular way depends on the broker's actual relationship to the insurer. In Washington state, agents and brokers are subsumed under one concept &quot;insurance provider&quot;. Agents and brokers are generally not empowered by the insurer to do wholesale re-writings of policies (e.g. adding coverage for seismic damage for all customers). An agent or broker cannot, however, unilaterally add &quot;medical malpractice insurance&quot; specific to your homeowner's policy without your approval.</p>

<h2>It depends who’s agent the broker is</h2>
<p>If it is a general insurance policy (property, motor, liability etc) then the broker is <em>your</em> agent. A notice delivered to them is legally a notice delivered to you.</p>
<p>If it is a life policy (life, income protection, TPD etc) then the broker is <em>the insurer’s</em> agent. A notice delivered to them is just the insurer talking to themselves.</p>
<p>This is the common law default for historical reasons, however, specific jurisdictions may have other rules.</p>
