Cancelling Car Insurance

Bebsie

I'm a newbie so I hope I am posting in the right place! I need help with my car insurance, is it possible to cancel and existing policy? WHat is the situation if I sell the car?

dzug

Yes it is.

You won't get as much money back as you would imagine - nothing like pro rata.

mitchg

Unless of course you are talking about within the first 14 days then you should be entitled to a cooling off period of 14 days to cancel and get the full cost of the policy back.

mitchg

If you are selling the car and then buying a new one and you are part way into a policy it maybe worth not cancelling but paying to change the policy for the new car.
On the other hand if you are not requireing the money back just let it ride if its not too much and you dont have a lot of no claims discount entitlement then this way you can earn another years entitlement, no car no claim 1 more years discount.
Or even down grade it to 3rd party only then let it ride to earn that discount.
Really all situations could have a different answer it depends on your age, money situation, discount entitlement and if you are thinking of buying a new car shortly afterwards.

Bebsie

I am paying the policy on a monthly basis, I would like to sell the car and not purchase another and the policy is only 4 months, I guess I would be charged a cancellation fee, is that correct?

bclark

If you are paying monthly then you can just cancel your monthly direct debit, no cancellation fee. I have done this before.

brazilianwax

bclark wrote: »

If you are paying monthly then you can just cancel your monthly direct debit, no cancellation fee. I have done this before.

Bad advice. Might work for some companies, but others will send debt collectors after you.

Inactive

Indeed, the OP really needs to check out the contract that he/she entered in to, it will be legally binding.

Bebsie

Thanks everyone, I think I will phone them and see how things stand!

lisyloo

On the other hand if you are not requireing the money back just let it ride

Don't do this if you are selling the car.
Some on another board forget to cancel their insurance.
The seller had an accident but did not have insurance and was no traceable so the claim came back to haunt them even though they didn't own the car.

Do NOT just cancel your direct debt.
You have a legal contract with the insurer and if you just stop paying then they may be entitled to charge you fees.

Call them to ask about cancellation term (or look it up in the documentation).
Most likely you have to pay for more than 4 months and you have to suffer an admin charge for cancellation but you should still get some money back.
Insurers these days par their prices down to the bone to be competitive but the downside is that if you want to change something you have to bear the costs.