How to cancel your car insurance with Tesco Bank
To cancel your car insurance with Tesco Bank, you'll need to call them or write to them. You'll also need to pay a cancellation fee of £40, or £80 if you have a black box installed.
Heads up, though: we AREN'T Tesco Bank! 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 April 2020. Always double-check with your insurer.)
Cancellation fees
- If you cancel during the cooling-off period, you won't have to pay a cancellation fee - but you'll have to pay an admin fee based on how long you've had the policy
- If you cancel after the cooling-off period has ended, you'll have to pay a £40 cancellation fee
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 Tesco Bank 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.
Black box cover
Tesco Bank also offers black box (or "telematics") insurance.
There are different cancellation fees for the black box insurance.
- If you cancel before your black box has been fitted, you'll have to a pay a £30 cancellation fee
- If you cancel after your black box has been fitted, you'll have to a pay an £80 cancellation fee
Breakdown cover
Tesco Bank also offers breakdown cover, through RAC. You can cancel your breakdown cover separately to your car insurance.
If you cancel your breakdown cover within 14 days of buying it, you'll get a full refund.
If you cancel after the first 14 days, you won't get a refund. And if you pay for it per month, you'll have to pay for the rest of the cover up front.
Cancelling after you make a claim
Like most car insurance companies, Tesco Bank won't give you any refund on your car insurance if you've made a claim. But you'll still have to pay a cancellation fee.
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.
This also applies to a lot of Tesco's car insurance add-ons, like breakdown cover, hire vehicle cover and motor legal protection. With most car insurance add-ons, you can't keep your add-ons and cancel your main policy.
How to cancel
To cancel your car insurance policy with Tesco Bank, you can either call them or write to them.
Calling to cancel
You can call them between 9-6 during weekdays, and 10-4 on Saturdays and Sundays. And average call times are 20 minutes.
To cancel your Tesco Bank car insurance by phone, you'll have to call them on 0345 246 2895.
Writing to cancel
Or you could dust off the quill and ink and write to Tesco Bank. The address is Freepost RSJB-RZZY-HTJB, Tesco Bank Customer Service, P.O. Box 276, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE12 2BT.
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.
With Tesco Bank, it's (usually) 14 days from when you get your policy documents.
Check your policy documents to find out when your cooling-off period starts and ends.
It's usually cheaper to cancel during your cooling-off period. And most insurance companies have one cancellation fee within the first 14 days, and a different (higher) cancellation fee if you cancel after the 14-day cooling-off period.
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
Tesco Bank will automatically renew your car insurance unless you tell them you don't want to. To do that, you have to fill in a form to let them know 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.
Tesco Bank will contact you 3 weeks before the policy renews to let you know:
- That it's going to renew, and
- How much it will cost when it does renew
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.
Sources:
Tesco Bank: how do I cancel my car insurance policy?
Tesco Box insurance policy booklet
Breakdown cover policy booklet
Tesco Bank: If I cancel my breakdown cover, do I get a refund?
Tesco Bank: Why is my car insurance policy being automatically renewed?