Do You Automatically Accept Your Car Insurance Renewal?

Many drivers automatically accept their car insurance renewal and potentially miss out on saving money.

According to new research from Gocompare.com, 27% of drivers allow their car insurance policies to auto-renew – many in the mistaken belief that they will be rewarded for their loyalty.

Very few renewal notices show what you paid for your insurance last year, because your new premium may have increased significantly and yet only 45% bother to check their renewal against what they paid for their insurance the previous year

And even fewer, less than a quarter bother to read their renewal documents to check the premium and any policy amendments to see if the policy still provides all the cover they need.

As John Miles Gocompare.com’s business development director explained, “Insurers rely on apathy to retain customers. Also, insurers make use of the annual renewal to review the cover they offer, typically increasing excesses or altering policy wordings.  So it’s essential that you check not only the price, but the level of cover to ensure your policy continues to give you the protection you need.”

There are a number of reasons people stick with their current provider and auto-renew their car insurance, including

• Loyalty, with over a quarter  believing that as their current insurer was the cheapest last year they would also be good value again this year.
• Lack of time
• Consider it too much hassle to switch
• Feel car insurance is too confusing and don’t have the confidence to switch
• Consider compelled to renew with their existing insurance provider
• Worry they’d lose their no-claims-bonus if they switched.

As John says, “Our advice is simple, look at your renewal notice as soon as it arrives and compare the price and cover against last year’s documents.  Consider any changes you might need to make to the cover and take a look at similar policies on a comparison site to see if you can make any savings. ”

And adds “If you decide to switch, don’t forget to notify your current provider.  Most policies automatically renew, unless you tell the insurer otherwise within the 14 day cooling off period.  Miss the cut off date and you could face hefty cancellation charges.”