With many types of insurance, including holiday homes cover, there is typically a period of 14 days during which you can cancel the policy if you change your mind.
This so called “cooling off period” was introduced by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) – which is the body that regulates the insurance industry in the UK.
It protects people who may have been pressurised into buying insurance products that they really didn’t want or those that may have made an error in terms of the policy they’ve selected.
These days, although pressure selling is hopefully less common, it is perfectly possible to still use this cooling off period to consider your deal and to reassure yourself that it is the most suitable insurance for you.
Here at Schofields we recognise that, while cancellation is not an issue for most purchases of our holiday home insurance, there may be times when our customers wish to cancel their insurance with us.
That may be for any one of a number of reasons – the owner selling their holiday home or a new purchase falling through at the last minute.
Here are your rights if you wish to cancel your policy;
Within the cooling off period
If you change your mind within the 14-day cooling off period, you can expect to receive a full refund from us.
You may find that not all insurance companies offer this no-quibble arrangement and some may charge an administration fee for their cancellation service. Up to £50 to cover admin expenses in setting a policy up are not uncommon.
Cancelling later on
If you decide that you want to cancel after the 14-day period, all you have to do is inform us in writing of your decision – specifying the day you wish your cover to stop.
We will then calculate the premium refund due for the period of cover that you have had and will refund you the balance due.
The longer that you have held your policy, the less of the premium you could expect to receive back. You may wish to note that we retain a minimum premium amount of £105. These terms are outlined in our policy wordings.
Obviously, if you have made a claim on your insurance, then while you are still perfectly free to cancel your cover, no refund would be payable by us.
Cancelling overseas insurance
Any cancellation terms should be clarified when buying foreign property insurance – get the policy translated into English if necessary. Cancelling French insurance is notoriously difficult and some Spanish insurers require two months cancellation notice.
This begs the question; if the insurer makes it difficult to cancel a policy, how willing will they be to pay claims?
At Schofields we value our customers and believe in our products. Even so, we are committed to helping you efficiently and effectively cancel your holiday home policy within the 14-day cooling off period or later, if you need to.
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