Dear LPG, 

I was on the phone to a friend who told me this story with a definite moral that I think people need to hear. 

He has a friend who lost her husband a few months ago, and we all know how upsetting and disorientating that can be for a long time after the event.  He told us that he, his partner and some of their other mutual friends have noticed how hard it has been for the bereaved lady of their group, who sometimes gets a bit lost in her thoughts.  

The story goes that one day not so long ago, she was alone at home and found herself waiting for something to cook in the oven when she found one of those documents.  When telling them her story, she said that it was one of those simple bits of paper which contained a thought-provoking paragraph, and it got her thinking about memories which took some time to process mentally.  But the result was that she left the oven on for far too long, and the inevitable happened.  She and her house remain intact, but the kitchen is not a pretty sight; although it was luckily not too bad it caused some damage.   

Once orientated again, she did what anyone with home and contents insurance would do and called her insurer, who informed her that she was not covered and could not claim because the insurance policy was still in her husband’s name.

The house is fine again now, but it occurred to me that there is so much to do after a bereavement that it is so easy to forget some paperwork when moving on.  

This being said, I felt that the story might serve as a warning, so I would like to take the opportunity to remind LPG coupled-up readers that it might be a good idea to make sure that your insurance policies are taken out in joint names in the first place.

DS, Kent