Cancelling car insurance mid-term?

theChimbles

I need to to renew my car insurance on the 15th of July. My existing insurer has quoted me £300, which is fairly competitive with what else is out there after checking. They actually come out top of on the comparison website, but higher than my renewel quote, so I'll probably stick with them. However, I'm moving house a month into my policy and have done another search on the comparison websites (my existing lender again coming out top) and the quote on my new property is approximately 50% less then the renewel quote (basically because of a better postcode, residential estate and off-street parking).

My question is, if I take out the year's insurance now, can I ask them to reassess my premium when I move and get a rebate? Or can I cancel my insurance after a month and take out new insurance at the lower rate? Or am I stuck with higher premium for a year?

Thanks

InsideInsurance

Almost all insurers will rerate the new details and adjust the premium accordingly. They will however normally charge an administration fee for doing it but then if you cancel it you will have to pay a cancellation fee which is often higher.

Probably worth having a quick chat with them over their fees if it isnt clear from the documentation.

dunstonh

My question is, if I take out the year's insurance now, can I ask them to reassess my premium when I move and get a rebate? Or can I cancel my insurance after a month and take out new insurance at the lower rate? Or am I stuck with higher premium for a year?

You can cancel and buy a new policy but the old one will likely suffer a cancellation charge and the cancellation terms are likely to be heavy (especially in the early months after renewal). Whilst the FOS generally likes cancellation rebates to be relatively pro-rata, it does accept that the bulk of the cost is at the start and that this can be recovered in the cancellation rates. So, if you cancel after 1 month do not be surprised if you end up paying for 3 months and a cancellation charge on top.

You can check the cancellation terms of your existing provider to see what it would cost you.