Car Insurance Cancellation and Non-Renewal

car insurance

It’s usually a bad thing when your car insurance policy is cancelled, but not necessarily bad when your policy in non-renewed. So, what’s the difference and what are the consequences of each?

Well, let’s take a look.

Car Insurance Cancellation

There are some guidelines pertaining to when an insurance company can cancel your policy. The rules depend on the point in the term of the policy; the cutoff being a 60-day “underwriting” window.

First 60 Days of Your Insurance Policy

Your insurer can cancel your insurance policy for almost any reason within the first 60 days. Most policies begin or are sold at one point, either online or at an independent agent’s office, then reviewed at a later date for accuracy acceptability.

The insurance company representative (in person or over the phone) gathers information based mostly on what they are told and don’t necessarily have the ability to evaluate the information for accuracy. Nonetheless, they can bind and issue you a policy and you are on your way with coverage.

The information you provide is then sent to the company for verification. The insurer will check your Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) and C.L.U.E report, and in some cases credit history, to verify the information you provided is accurate…believe it or not, some people fudge the truth to try to get a lower insurance premium.

If the information you provided is inaccurate, the insurer has the option to correct it and charge you a higher (or in some cases lower) premium and continue the coverage if you agree to cough up the money.

However, it is possible the updated information, perhaps a ticket or an insurance claim you “forgot to mention,” will make you ineligible for the program or policy you chose to purchase.

And just like that, the insurer may cancel your policy.

After 60 Days

When the “underwriting” period of your policy has passed and you move into day 61 and beyond, your insurance company can only cancel a policy for one of the following three reasons:

1. Non-payment of premium – you should still receive a 10 day notice (notice times vary by state).

2. Even after 60 days, if it is discovered that you knowingly and/or intentionally misrepresented information on your policy application a cancellation can be issued. Fraud of any kind can trigger this type of cancellation.

3. Perhaps your driving license becomes suspended, or worse, revoked. Insurers have the option to cancel your policy if this happens at any point in your term.

Car Insurance Non-Renewal

Non-renewal is a whole different animal. A policy can only be non-renewed at the end of the term (six or 12 months). Both you and the insurance company can decide to non-renew a car insurance policy.

The insurer will let you know if they decide to take this action. Typically, you can expect to receive a 30 or 60-day advanced notice of non-renewal.

If you decide to non-renew a policy, you simply stop paying for it after it expires. But be careful if you make automatic payments for your car insurance.

The company will simply send you a renewal notice in the mail (as many as 60 or more days before a policy expires) and automatically deduct the money from your account to continue the policy for another term.

At this point you would have to cancel the policy and request a refund of your paid premium.

Tip: If you plan to switch insurance companies and you use some type of auto-pay, let your insurer know at least 75 days in advance to avoid any mistakes regarding your car insurance renewal.

Why do insurers non-renew policies?

There are a couple reasons why an insurance company may choose to non-renew a policy. And it may have absolutely nothing to do with you!

An insurer may decide they simply don’t want to write a particular line (home or auto for example) or class of insurance (homes on the gulf, drivers under 25 for example) and non-renew every policy that fits in that category.

Also, an insurance company may decide to stop writing insurance in one state altogether, which would result in non-renewal for every policy they have in that state.

However, it is possible that something you did during your policy term may have caused your insurer to non-renew you. It depends on the type of insurer your policy is written with.

Perhaps you are with a standard carrier, and as a result of a few tickets you received during your policy, you no longer fit their risk appetite. You would likely be non-renewed and have to seek coverage from a non-standard carrier (types of auto insurance companies).

What’s next?

Believe it or not, a cancellation or a non-renewal may be the best thing that ever happened to you. Perhaps you were with a national insurer like State Farm or Farmers Insurance for several years and didn’t have any claims. It is not uncommon for these companies to drop you when you file your first claim.

In the event this happens, you will likely have to seek the services of an independent agent who will shop your rate with several insurers. (Learn more about the difference between a captive agent and an independent insurance agent).

It is also not uncommon for individuals to save money on insurance after switching insurers…even with a ticket or claim.

The national insurance companies with large television advertising budgets typically don’t have the best prices. They rely on bombarding us with commercials and other forms of advertising to convince us they are the best option.

How do you think they pay for an advertisement to be run at every commercial break on every channel 24 hours per day? They are using your premium dollars to do so.

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