Double Insurance

Duplicate protection provided when two companies deal with the same individual and undertake to indemnify that person against the same losses.

When an individual has double insurance, he or she has coverage by two different insurance companies upon the identical interest in the identical subject matter. If a HUSBAND AND WIFE have duplicate medical insurance coverage protecting one another, they would thereby have double insurance. An individual can rarely collect on double insurance, however, since this would ordinarily constitute a form of UNJUST ENRICHMENT, and a majority of insurance contracts contain provisions that prohibit this.