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Am I imagining things (really, really boring things) or didn't the government bring in a new law a few years ago that meant your car insurance HAD to automatically renewal so no-one ended up accidentally not covered?
I just changed insurers (because £250 << £760!), then rang my current insurer to cancel and was told it wouldn't renew. The guy said he'd never heard of such a law. I might as well have suggested there was a law against carrots.
What am I missing?
No, after years of auto renewing I found out (thankfully not the hard way!) That my insurance Co at the time (directline)no longer auto renewed
The system is a joke to be fair.. Most auto renew to prey on the ignorant by hiking the renewal premium at the same time.
Then you get those that don't, assume thier cover will roll over with no action and end up in potentially serious bother.
I know it personal responsibility to check your insurance.. But there should be some standardisation /legislation.
I am glad it is not mandatory as I very nearly got caught out once when my company tried to auto renew, I had a new credit card with a different number and so it didn't work. Did they phone or write to ask for alternative payment...... No
So luckily I realised there had been no new certificate in the post and phoned them to sort it.
I now ensure no auto renew on any policies I take out
Auto-renewal is a scam in all but name IMHO.
Every time I've ever been up for a renewal, I've asked the broker to re-quote and the same broker has come back with the same policy at a lower premium.
Auto renew is how they make their money. Hook you in at a low price then whack it up at auto-renew and wonder why people don't trust insurance companies.
I agree, auto-renewal plays into the hands of insurers trying it on, but the point was I thought it was made a legal obligation.
No, when I phoned up to cancel/change mine they said they never auto-renewed so it would just lapse as I wanted.
Even when my insurance would auto-renew, they still send a letter a couple of weeks in advance with a re-quote price & stating that if you are happy with it, you don't need to do anything etc. otherwise get in touch.
Some do, and some don't.
Some offer it optionally, some say it's a mandatory condition of their cover and won't even allow you to disable it when you take out the cover.
I've never once had a better price by continuing existing cover, than by cancelling and going elsewhere.
It's never been a legal requirement to have auto-renewal.