We hope you don’t need to – but there might be some situations where you need to cancel your home insurance.
Here’s everything you need to know about cancelling a home insurance policy.
How do I cancel my home insurance?
Follow these steps to cancel your home insurance.
Contact your insurer
The first step is to get in touch with your insurer. This might be giving them a call or logging into your online account.
Verify your details
They’ll confirm a few details with you, like your:
- address
- policy number
- renewal date
They’ll cancel your policy for you and send you confirmation once it’s done.
Remember
If you pay monthly, don’t cancel your Direct Debit without letting your insurer know you’d like to cancel.
If you do that, they might think you’re late on payments and it could even affect your credit score.
When can I cancel my home insurance?
You can cancel your home insurance whenever you like. But whether you get your money back will depend on:
- how soon after buying your policy you cancelled it
- if you claimed on your insurance before you cancelled it
Find out more about cooling-off periods below.
Cancelling at renewal
You might have had your policy for the full year and be coming up to the renewal date.
In that case, you might choose to shop around and look at other insurers.
If you choose to switch at that point, you won’t need to pay a cancellation fee.
You’ll just need to let your insurer know you won’t be renewing with them for another year.
Heads up, some policies will automatically renew. So, remember to change your preferences or just let your insurer know as soon as possible.
How do I stop my home insurance from auto-renewing?
You should be able to log in to your online account or get in contact with your insurer to ask.
With us, you can change your auto-renewal settings in MyAccount.
What’s a cooling-off period?
A cooling-off period is the amount of time you have to cancel your policy after you buy it. It’s usually 14 days.
Cancelling in the cooling-off period
If you cancel within 14 days of buying your policy and haven’t made a claim, you’ll get a full refund on your insurance.
Heads up, you’ll still need to pay a small cancellation fee – we’ll explain a bit later.
Cancelling after the cooling-off period
It’s a bit different if you cancel after the cooling-off period.
You’ll need to pay for the time you were covered for. So, say you’ve had your policy for two months, you’ll need to pay for those two months of cover.
If you pay monthly, your insurer will work out what your final payment needs to be or refund you some of last month’s payment.
If you paid for the year, they'll refund you for the rest of the cover you haven't used.
Either way, you’ll still need to pay a cancellation fee. This fee will be higher if you cancel outside the cooling-off period.
What are cancellation fees?
It’s a one-time payment that covers any of the costs your insurer has spent to organise cancelling your policy.
This fee will be higher if you cancel outside the cooling-off period.
With us, the cancellation fee is:
- £25 if you cancel within 14 days
- £39.50 if you cancel after 14 days
Will I get a refund if I cancel my home insurance?
It depends when you cancel it and if you’ve made a claim:
- If you cancel within the cooling-off period and haven’t made a claim, you should get a full refund.
- If you cancel outside the cooling-off period, you’ll need to pay for the time you were insured for – even if that’s just a month.
- If you’ve made a claim already, you won’t get a refund.
Can my insurer cancel my home insurance?
There are some situations where your insurer can cancel your policy.
For example, if they think you’ve purposefully not told them information or you’ve broken the terms and conditions of the policy.
If that happens, they’ll likely send you a letter or email explaining what happens next.
You’ll then need to look at other insurance options.
I’m moving house, should I cancel my home insurance?
If you’re moving house, it’s important you make sure you:
- aren't paying for insurance on a house you don’t live in anymore
- have the right insurance for your new home – whether you transfer your current policy or buy a new one
Transferring your home insurance to your new home
In most cases, you should be ok to transfer your insurance to your new home.
Just get in touch with your insurer to tell them before you move. You’ll need to give them some information, like your new address and details about the property.
Will my home insurance price change if I move house?
It might do, yes.
That’s because the price of your insurance depends on lots of different things, including:
- your address – some homes are more at risk of extreme weather, crime or other factors that could affect your price
- the type of property – for example, if it’s a bigger house or built with pricier materials, it could cost more to insure
That means your new home could be more expensive – or even cheaper – to insure.
Still got questions?
If you’re insured with us and still have some questions, you can:
- head over to our home insurance FAQ page
- check your policy documents
- or get in touch with us
We’re always happy to help!
Citizens Advice also has some helpful information on cancelling your insurance and your rights.
