The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.

Average Cost to Cancel UK Car Insurance (2024)

Cancelling car insurance in the UK can be done at any time, and typically involves a cancellation fee (which is likely to be higher after the 14-day cooling off period) and either a refund on your prepaid premium or additional premium owed if you pay monthly. Here are typical car insurance cancellation costs to help you understand what you're paying. For more information read our Ultimate Guide to Cancelling Car Insurance.

Average Car Insurance Cancellation Fees UK

The average UK car insurance cancellation fee is £24 during the 14-day cooling off period and £55 after the cooling off period. However, fees for cancelling early vary widely, ranging from £0 to £125 or more.

Car Insurance Cancellation Fees UKLowHighAverage
Within 14-day Cooling-off Period£0£100 (£247 for telematics)£24
After 14-day Cooling-off Period£30£125 (£247 for telematics)£55

Black box policies typically cost more to cancel than policies without a telematics requirement—this is primarily due to the costs of supplying and fitting the black box.

In addition to cancellation fees, there may be additional costs of cancelling. For instance, if you paid a set up or arrangement fee, this may not be refunded to you.

Car Insurance Cancellation Fees UK

To calculate the average cost to cancel car insurance, we checked administration fees from the terms and conditions of more than three dozen leading UK car insurance brands. In the table below we show the standard cancellation fees we found, by brand. Telematics policies, in particular, may charge higher fees than we've listed.

Note that some brands like Aviva charge less during the 14-day cooling off period if your cover hasn't started yet and more if cover has started. Telematics cancellation fees are noticeably higher, which you can see with General Accident, Ingenie and Admiral.

BrandWithin 14-day Cooling-off PeriodAfter 14-day Cooling-off Period
AA£0£32.5 (and you still pay the £28 arrangement fee)
Acorn£0After 14 days, £75 (plus another £33.25 - £105 for telematics whenever you cancel)
Admiral£25 (£75 Plug & Drive, £125 LittleBox/Safe Driver)£60 (£110 Plug & Drive, £160 LittleBox/Safe Driver)
Ageas£0£50 (and £20 setup fee is nonrefundable)
Aviva£0 (or £38 if cover has started)£38
AXA£0£52.5£0 online otherwise £25
Bell£25 (£75 Plug & Drive, or £50 if unit returned within 30 days)£60 (£110 Plug & Drive, or £50 if unit returned within 30 days)
Budget£30£45
By Miles£50£50
Carrot^£75£35
Churchill^£0£56.73
Diamond£25£60
Direct Line£0£48.16
Elephant£25£60
Esure£26£60
First Central£0£50
General Accident£25£50
General Accident telematics£100£125
Go Girl£45£45 plus cancellation scale of premium
GoSkippy£35£75
Hastings£0£45
Hedgehog^£50£60
iGO4£35 (and £60 setup fee is nonrefundable)£65 (and £60 setup fee is nonrefundable)
Ingenie£35£80 (+ £105 if a telematics box has been installed)
Insure Pink£0 (but £20 arrangement fee nonrefundable)£45 (+ £20 arrangement fee is nonrefundable)
John Lewis£0£40
LV=£0£40
Marmalade£25£50
Marshmallow£30£60 to £125
MyPolicy£75 to £247£75 to £247 (and £350 arranement fee is non refundable)
One Call£34.99 to £49.99£55.99
QuoteMeHappy.com£25£50
RAC£5£50
Saga£25£50
Sainsbury's Bank£25£55 (and £40 set up fee is non refundable)
Sheilas' Wheels£26£35 or £60
Sterling£85 (plus set up fee is non refundable)£40 or £85 (plus set up fee is non refundable)
Swiftcover£0£52.50
Tesco Bank£0£40
Vavista£25 or £35£75

Do you Get a Refund if you Cancel Car Insurance?

The insurer will calculate if they owe you a refund on your premium (say, if you prepaid in full) or if you owe them some premium for time you've been covered (if you pay monthly). Most brands will make these calculations on a pro rata basis, which essentially means you pay a proportionate amount for the time you were covered (e.g., 1/365th of the premium per day of cover).

However, a few brands calculate premium owed or to be refunded using a scale (not pro rata) which means you'd pay MORE for the time covered. For example, Go Girl charges 20% of the premium if you cancel within the first month, as you can see in the premium scale below.

Go Girl Cancellation ScalePercentage of Premium Payable
Up to 1 month20%
Up to 2 months28%
Up to 3 months36%
Up to 4 months44%
Up to 5 months52%
Up to 6 months60%
Up to 7 months68%
Up to 8 months76%
Up to 9 months84%
Up to 10 months92%
Above 10 months100%

Car insurance cancellation if you've made a claim

If you've already made a claim, the premium calculations are quite different. If you have made a claim and cancel during the 14-day cooling off period, your insurance company can deduct the sum paid out from the refund of the premium. If you have made a claim and cancel after the first 14 days, you will still owe the entire premium for the whole policy year.

We assume this is the situation for the anonymous comments left below, where motorists are charged an exorbitant amount. If you have been charged a really excessive amount to cancel and this is NOT the case (i.e. you haven't made a claim), please let us know in the comments section below.

FAQs

Yes, you can cancel your car insurance at any time. This situation could arise if, for instance, you sell your car. You may need to pay a cancellation fee and any unpaid premiums for days you've been covered.
You can cancel your car insurance before it starts, however you still may need to pay a cancellation fee.
You can cancel your car insurance mid policy, however you still may need to pay a cancellation fee any unpaid premiums for time you've been covered.
Yes, you can cancel your car insurance if you pay monthly—but you'll need to pay any cancellation fees and premium owned according to your contract.
You usually have to pay to cancel car insurance in the UK—payments consist of a cancellation fee as well as any remaining premium owed for days you were covered until the cancellation date. Note: most brands charge this on a pro rata basis, but a few calculate premium owed on a scale which means you pay more than a pro rata amount of premium.
If you paid your car insurance annually upfront, then you may get money back for cancelling. This depends on the cancellation fees and how much time is left on your policy. For instance, let's say you cancel after 9 months on a £600 policy that has a £50 cancellation fee. The premium you would get back, on a pro rata basis, would be £150 for the 3 remaining months. Then subtract the £50 cancellation fee, leaving a refund to you of £100.
You can cancel car insurance after auto renewal but you're likely to be charged a cancellation fee and the premium for any time you had cover during the new policy year. If you don't want your policy to renew, turn off any auto renew feature on your account ahead of time.
You can cancel your car insurance if you're not driving, but first you need to formally declare your car SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) by making a declaration to the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) that your car is not in use on public roads.
In most cases, the Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) for a car will be the standard rate of 12%, but there are cases where the IPT is a higher rate of 20% for vehicles (e.g., if insurance was arranged or supplied by a dealer). The IPT may be charged on car insurance administration fees as well.
A car insurance company can cancel your policy. There are many reasons this could happen, such as nonpayment, finding a discrepancy in your application, unsafe driving on a telematics policy, not supplying requested documents in a timely manner, etc.
To cancel a standard Admiral car insurance policy you'll need to pay a £60 cancellation fee, which is reduced to £25 if you cancel during the 14-day cooling off period. Some Admiral policies cost more to cancel: Plug & Drive policyholders pay £110 to cancel and LittleBox/Safe Driver policyholders pay a £160 cancellation fee. Bell, Elephant and Diamond, all Admiral brands, charge the same cancellation fees.
Hastings Direct charges a £45 cancellation fee to cancel standard car insurance. This is reduced to £0 if you cancel in the first 14 days.
There's no cancellation fee if you cancel a standard Direct Line car insurance policy during the first 14 days; after this period there's a £48.16 cancellation fee.
Aviva charges a £38 car insurance cancellation fee as standard. However, if you cancel during the 14-day cooling off period AND cover hasn't yet started then the cancellation fee is £0.
Esure charges a £60 car insurance cancellation fee as standard. However, if you cancel during the 14-day cooling off period the fee is reduced to £26.
Tesco car insurance doesn't charge a cancellation fee if you cancel during the first 14 days. If you cancel after this, they charge a £40 fee to cancel.

Comments

The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.

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