changing motor insurance company

[I.Don No]

pardon my ignorance.............

can I change insurance company long before renewal date?

[Hymie]

Of course you can � but don�t expect any refund for any remaining months on your current insurance.

Also if you do not have full no claims (excluding the current year), your new insurance company is unlikely to count the current year as part of your no-claims years.

[I.Don No]

ta muchly

[Hymie]

I should have added that if you are paying your current insurance by instalments, then you are contractually bound to pay for the remainder of the year, even if you change insurance providers.

[I.Don No]

ta muchly again!

[Hymie]

Also forgot to say that should you have 2 policies on your car in place at the same time and have a claim; being the sh!its that most insurance companies are, each will tell you to claim off the other.

So it�s not to be recommended.

If however you want to change insurance companies because of a change of circumstance (e.g you have moved � and your insurance company wants to sting you), you should come to an agreement with your current insurer on the period of cover they will offer, based on the amount you have paid to date � and arrange alternative cover from when that cover ends.

The above happened to me the last time I moved house, my then insurer doubled the premium for my new address, although the post code area was no worse an insurance risk than my old address. Just another way of insurance companies ripping you off

[caththecrazy]

Check your documents to see how much is charged for a cancellation fee. Most have details listed.

[flip_flop]

Hymie has made a number of mistakes.

1 - You can cancel and you will receive a refund, either pro-rata (if you have been with the same insurer for more than one year) or short period if this is your first year with them. Short period rates are a sliding scale of the annual premium you will be charged with the refund being less than pro-rata to recognise the insurers acquisition costs in the first year.

2 - If you are paying monthly, you can still cancel - you are not contractually obliged to continue paying for the rest of the year.

3 - If there are two policies on the same vehicle the common law rule of Contribution will apply, with each insurer contributing to the claim.

[I.Don No]

wow.....

ta muchly everyone