Cancelling a New Car Insurance Policy Before it starts

Al_Ross

I  just took out a new car insurance policy, its not due to start till the 12th of June. I was convinced that the no claims discount was protected, but it wasn't.

I need to cancel and take it out again, the company want to charge me a fee for this, is this correct ? I thought there was a cooling off peroid ?

lisyloo

There is a cooling off period and cancellation fees are often lower within the cooling off period.

DullGreyGuy

Al_Ross said:

I  just took out a new car insurance policy, its not due to start till the 12th of June. I was convinced that the no claims discount was protected, but it wasn't.

I need to cancel and take it out again, the company want to charge me a fee for this, is this correct ? I thought there was a cooling off peroid ?

The cooling off period simply means you have a legal right to cancel the policy, there is no requirement for it to be fee free to cancel it. After the cooling off period there is no statutory right to be able to exit the contract early however in practice the likes of Home and Motor do allow mid term cancellations whereas things like Private Medical frequently dont. 

Mark_d

Al_Ross said:

I  just took out a new car insurance policy, its not due to start till the 12th of June. I was convinced that the no claims discount was protected, but it wasn't.

I need to cancel and take it out again, the company want to charge me a fee for this, is this correct ? I thought there was a cooling off peroid ?

If you cancel now then you won't have to pay for any cover buy you will have to pay admin fees relating to the documents produced.  Can you call the insurers to request the no claims discount protection?  You'd have to pay for this protection and also pay an admin fee but this should be simpler than cancelling the policy and taking out a new one

TELLIT01

It could be worth checking how much they charge to add NCD protection.  It could be less than the admin fee for cancellation.

Al_Ross

I did call them.The only way they said was to cancel and take out a new policy and be charged a £20 admin fee for this.Also they can't cancel untill the new policy starts which is in 12 days time.

I think I will just have to keep it as it is and drive extra careful for the next 12 months.I have 12 years N.C.D

born_again

Something @DullGreyGuy could confirm 👍

But you do not lose your whole 12 years NCD & as such would not much difference, other than you get charged more as you are then a higher risk due to having a claim.

DullGreyGuy

For Motor you would typically go to 3 years NCD following a fault claim if you are on 5+ years. On the old fashioned scale maximum NCD was 65% or 70% whereas 3 years is 50% and so still the majority of the discount applied. 

These days NCD is not as open and many use both more complex scales and lower percentages. Despite the fact that people brag about having 20 or 30 years NCD the vast majority of people have maximum NCD which makes it a bit of a farce to say you are getting 70% discount off the "normal premium"

HillStreetBlues

DullGreyGuy said:

For Motor you would typically go to 3 years NCD following a fault claim if you are on 5+ years. On the old fashioned scale maximum NCD was 65% or 70% whereas 3 years is 50% and so still the majority of the discount applied. 

These days NCD is not as open and many use both more complex scales and lower percentages. Despite the fact that people brag about having 20 or 30 years NCD the vast majority of people have maximum NCD which makes it a bit of a farce to say you are getting 70% discount off the "normal premium"

Personally I think NCD are over overrated.
People worry about losing a NCB  but the real issue is the actual claim when you next go to insure, not the reduction of any NCB.

DullGreyGuy

HillStreetBlues said:

DullGreyGuy said:

For Motor you would typically go to 3 years NCD following a fault claim if you are on 5+ years. On the old fashioned scale maximum NCD was 65% or 70% whereas 3 years is 50% and so still the majority of the discount applied. 

These days NCD is not as open and many use both more complex scales and lower percentages. Despite the fact that people brag about having 20 or 30 years NCD the vast majority of people have maximum NCD which makes it a bit of a farce to say you are getting 70% discount off the "normal premium"

Personally I think NCD are over overrated.
People worry about losing a NCB  but the real issue is the actual claim when you next go to insure, not the reduction of any NCB.

A 70% discount isn't anything to be sniffed at, NCD Protection used to be 15% charge so if your insurer did 70% NCD you were slightly better off than 3 years NCD. Ironically if you were with an insurer giving 65% max the by paying for NCDP it took it down to 50% which is basically the same as if you had made a claim and gone to 3 years anyway. 

As mentioned, these days are more complex and frequently lower discounts. 

born_again

DullGreyGuy said:

HillStreetBlues said:

DullGreyGuy said:

For Motor you would typically go to 3 years NCD following a fault claim if you are on 5+ years. On the old fashioned scale maximum NCD was 65% or 70% whereas 3 years is 50% and so still the majority of the discount applied. 

These days NCD is not as open and many use both more complex scales and lower percentages. Despite the fact that people brag about having 20 or 30 years NCD the vast majority of people have maximum NCD which makes it a bit of a farce to say you are getting 70% discount off the "normal premium"

Personally I think NCD are over overrated.
People worry about losing a NCB  but the real issue is the actual claim when you next go to insure, not the reduction of any NCB.

A 70% discount isn't anything to be sniffed at, NCD Protection used to be 15% charge so if your insurer did 70% NCD you were slightly better off than 3 years NCD. Ironically if you were with an insurer giving 65% max the by paying for NCDP it took it down to 50% which is basically the same as if you had made a claim and gone to 3 years anyway. 

As mentioned, these days are more complex and frequently lower discounts. 

Sure is not.

But if they load the policy before discount by 70% due to a claim, it a bit pointless.

There is no clear costings with insurance such as.
Base policy price.
Loading for claim.
NCD %

All you get is your quote is.

One for FCA to look at 🤣