How to cancel your car insurance with Churchill
To cancel your car insurance with Churchill, you can call them or chat to them online. You'll need to pay a cancellation fee of £53, plus a bit more for the time you've been covered.
Heads up, though: we AREN'T Churchill! We're Cuvva. While we can't cancel your policies with other companies ourselves, we can help you on your way with our nice explainer below - just make sure you contact the right company directly.
(Note: the information in this article was valid at the time of publication in July 2020. Always double-check with your insurer.)
Cancellation fees
If you cancel your Churchill car insurance policy before it starts, you'll get a full refund with no charges.
If you cancel during the 14-day cooling-off period after your policy starts, you'll get a refund minus a charge for the amount of time you've been insured.
If you cancel after your 14-day cooling-off period, you'll get a refund minus a charge for the amount of time you've been insured.
But on top of that, you'll have to pay a £53 cancellation fee.
Cancelling DriveSure
DriveSure is Churchill's telematics app. It uses data about your driving to give cheaper premiums to safer drivers.
These "black box" policies often come with higher cancellation fees to cover the cost of taking the black box out of your car. But Churchill's terms and conditions say that it's up to you to take out the device and send it back to them using a prepaid label.
So no extra cancellation fees.
Sometimes DriveSure automatically renews. Churchill will get in touch with you to let you know if it does. And if so, how much your policy will cost for next year.
How refunds work
When you cancel a car insurance policy, you'll usually have to pay a fee. The fee depends on the insurance company. It also depends on whether you're still in your cooling-off period.
You'll get the rest of your policy refunded, if you paid for the whole year up front. But Churchill will take away some of that refund to cover the insurance you've already had. They'll charge you a cancellation fee on top of this. It's pretty standard across most car insurance companies.
Breakdown cover and optional extras
You can also get breakdown cover through Churchill.
If you cancel your breakdown cover within the 14-day cooling-off period, you'll get a full refund, as long as you haven't called them out.
Outside of the cancellation fee, you'll get a refund, minus a charge for the amount of time you've had the breakdown cover.
You'll also have to pay an "administration fee". This is detailed in your schedule, but it's usually around £10.
If you pay monthly for your breakdown cover, you can cancel it at the end of the month. But if you've used your breakdown cover, you'll have to pay for the rest of the year when you cancel.
You can also cancel any other optional extras, like legal assistance cover or car hire insurance. There's no fee to cancel these extras.
If you pay for the year up-front, you'll get a refund, minus a charge for the amount of time you've been covered. If you pay monthly, you'll just have to pay up till the end of the month.
Cancelling after you make a claim
Like most car insurance companies, Churchill won't give you any refund on your car insurance if you've made a claim. But you'll still have to pay any cancellation fees.
And if you pay monthly for your car insurance, you'll need to pay up for the rest of the policy when you cancel. Again, this is standard in insurance.
How to cancel
To cancel your car insurance policy with Churchill, you can call them on 0345 603 3551. They're open:
- Monday - Friday: 8am - 7pm
- Saturday: 9am - 5pm
- Sunday: closed
You can also cancel by starting a web chat.
The cooling-off period
By law, every car insurance policy comes with a cooling-off period. The cooling-off period is either 14 days from the day your policy starts, or 14 days from when you get your policy documents in the post.
Check your policy documents to find out when your cooling-off period starts and ends.
Whether you're in your cooling-off period or outside of it, your insurer will take away some money from your refund to cover the days of insurance you've already had.
Auto-renewals
Churchill will automatically renew your car insurance, unless you specifically tell them you don't want them to.
To do that, you have to tell them that you want your policy to "lapse". Your price will often go up significantly if you auto-renew.
Letting your policy "lapse" (which means not renewing it) is not the same as cancelling your policy mid-way through.
Churchill will get in touch with you at least 21 days before your car insurance renews. They'll let you know:
- That it's going to renew, and
- How much it will cost when it does renew
If you renew, you'll start a new cooling-off period.
Get temporary insurance
If you're planning to cancel your annual policy, Cuvva's policies from 1 hour to 28 days might be able to help you bridge the gap, with cover starting from just £11.90.
- Temporary car insurance for borrowing or lending a car in minutes.
- Learner driver cover for driving lessons, getting practice in with a supervisor, or taking the driving test.
- Drive away insurance for getting your new car home from the dealership.
- Temporary van insurance for moving home, dropping things to the recycling centre, or carrying a heavy load.
And it only takes a few minutes to get a quote.
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