Have you had car insurance refused, cancelled or voided?

Having your car insurance policy voided, cancelled or refused by an insurance provider isn’t a good experience. But by telling the truth and making a commitment to safer driving, you should still be able to find car insurance to suit your needs.

Written by

Rebecca Goodman

Insurance expert

Last Updated

7 DECEMBER 2022

5 min read

Why has my insurance provider cancelled my policy?

There are many reasons why an insurance provider may decide to cancel, refuse or void your car insurance policy. Usually it’s for:

non-payment
non-disclosure
or fraud

Essentially, they’ll cancel your policy if they think you’ve broken the rules - and this won’t look good to other insurance providers.

If your provider tells you they’re planning on cancelling your policy, contact them as soon as possible. Don’t ignore the problem. It will be easier to get insurance in the future if you don’t have a cancellation on your record.

What can I do if I’m going to miss a payment?

If you chose to pay for your car insurance by monthly instalments and you’ve not been paying the premiums, your provider has a right to cancel your policy – as long as they give you sufficient warning and the opportunity to catch up on your payments. If you don’t think you can meet an upcoming payment, contact your insurance provider as soon as possible.

Insurance providers are aware of the cost of living crisis and that many people have money issues right now, so should be able to arrange a payment plan that works for you – and them. Whatever you do, don’t ignore communications from your provider and don’t be tempted to stop paying your premiums. Not only will this put your car insurance in jeopardy, it could harm your credit score.

If you’ve missed a payment by accident, perhaps you’ve changed bank accounts for example, let your insurance provider know and make the payment as soon as possible.

What does non-disclosure mean?

Non-disclosure is leaving something out of your insurance application that a provider needs to know. It could be as simple as forgetting to declare an insurance claim you made a couple of years ago.

Insurance providers can validate policyholders’ claims history and check records of reported incidents using the central insurance database known as CUE (the Claims and Underwriting Exchange). So, if you’ve genuinely forgotten to mention something that’s later revealed, your policy can be cancelled because you failed to declare relevant information. This can also apply to changes that happen during the time your policy runs for, so you’ll need to update your insurance provider if you change jobs, move home or modify your car, for example.

It’s important to tell your insurance provider about any previous claims and incidents. You’ll usually be asked about driving convictions and claims, so answer honestly – it pays to be upfront in the long run.

What might an insurance provider count as fraud?

The following could all count as fraud in the eyes of an insurance provider:

Fronting: where an experienced driver wrongly claims to be the main driver on a car insurance policy. This is most common among young drivers trying to cut the cost of car insurance. They’re added as a named driver to a policy (usually their parents’) when, in reality, they’re the main driver or owner of the car.
Flash for cash and crash for cash scams: when a driver flashes his lights to signal to other drivers that they’re safe to pull out at a junction, then deliberately crashes into them.
Vehicle dumping: pretending your car has been stolen.

Other types of fraud may involve deception for financial gain – trying to reduce the cost of a premium. These could include:

Saying your car is kept overnight in a garage when it’s not.
Using someone else’s address to register and insure your car.

There are other reasons why you could absentmindedly leave yourself open to an accusation of fraud, so always let your insurance provider know if something changes from when you originally bought the policy.

What can I do to safeguard against potential fraud?

Report incidents, such as fire, theft or water damage, even if you’re not making a claim.
Declare any penalty points added to your licence or any motor-related convictions.
Tell your insurance provider if you change career or job title, as this information is used to calculate your insurance premium.
Report any changes in address or circumstances.
Report any new behaviours, like regular changes to mileage.
Fit a dash cam to your car. These can provide useful evidence of your version of events in an accident created by fraudsters.

Does a cancelled policy affect me finding insurance in the future?

You’ll have to declare a cancelled policy to every new insurance provider. A cancelled policy acts as a red flag and you may struggle to find a mainstream insurance provider to cover you. Or you may end up paying a lot more for your car insurance.

If you are facing sky-high insurance costs, remember that there are specialist providers around who might be able to offer a lower price.

What can I do if an insurance provider refuses to insure me?

It’s up to each provider to decide which customers they want to insure. Some prefer to insure safer drivers and decline those with recent claims, particular jobs or high-performance cars, while others specialise in younger drivers or convicted drivers. If you live in an area with high levels of vehicle theft, some providers might not want to insure you.

This is where Comparethemarket can help. When it comes to renewing and finding a car insurance policy, we search a wide range of insurance providers – both large and specialist – so you have a good chance of securing competitive car insurance that takes account of your past.