It’s easily done as you search online about a month before your old policy runs out, and yes technically you’re losing money. But you might lose even more if you wait until 36 hours before your existing policy expires. Just saying.
Here’s the word;
A new study has revealed that an estimated 3.1 million adults in the UK have accidentally ‘double insured’ their vehicle at least once in the past – meaning they needlessly had two policies covering the same vehicle at the same time.
The data comes from the latest survey by Renewal, the new personal finance app powered by Go.Compare, which revealed that just under one in 10 drivers (8%) have previously made this gaffe – equal to 5.7% of all adults nationwide. If these drivers needed to claim, only one of their insurers would pay out, meaning there’s no benefit to being double-insured.
As insurance policies have a 14-day cooling off period, drivers who make this error have two weeks to cancel the new policy without paying any fees. If they fail to do this, they will either have to pay for two policies at the same time or pay a fee to cancel one of them.
Of those who’ve been double-insured, just over half (52%) said they had to pay for two policies at once as a result. With the average car insurance premium currently costing £403 per year, making this mistake today could prove to be a costly misstep.
As a result of this, a money expert from Go.Compare has shared their tips on how drivers can avoid this situation and what their options are if they make this mistake.
Matt Sanders, money spokesperson at Go.Compare (which powers the Renewal app), said: “It’s much better to be double insured than uninsured, but it’s still something you’ll want to avoid so that you don’t waste any money on cover that you don’t need. There aren’t any benefits to being double insured – if you need to make a claim it’s likely that the two insurers will share the pay-out.
“Admittedly, keeping track of insurance details and policy documents is sometimes easier said than done. It’s easy to see how drivers might, for instance, forget about an existing policy auto-renewing before getting a new one, but it does underline the importance of keeping insurance information organised.
“It might not be at the top of your priority list, but it’s key that you organise these documents so that you can find the information you need when you need it. Using an app like Renewal, is a helpful way of doing this, as it allows you to keep all your important policy details in one place, making it easy to find out things like what’s already insured and who it’s insured by.
“If you do accidentally double-insure yourself, it will be possible to cancel one of the policies to make sure you’re only paying for one at a time, but this can come at a cost. Insurance policies have a 14-day cooling off period, so if you realised you already have cover immediately after buying a policy, you should be able to cancel it without paying a fee.
“But, if you’ve left it longer than this, you’ll likely have to pay both a cancellation fee and some administration fees on one of the policies, which can vary by provider. In which case, you’ll need to consider which policy will cost you the least to cancel in the long run.
“Remember to factor in the premiums for both policies, too. While one might have lower cancellation fees, you could end up paying more in the long term if the other policy has a much cheaper premium. Taking all of this into account will help you to figure out the best course of action for your circumstances.”
The Renewal app can be downloaded via: https://www.myrenewal.app/
More information on cancelling an insurance policy can be found at: https://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/guide/cancelling-car-insurance/
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