Cancelling your car insurance is a quick and easy if you contact your insurer, and it can be even faster if you use a broker that cancels insurance for you.

Written by Brady Klopfer

Reviewed by Carrie Adkins

Updated on Nov 30, 2023

Table of Contents

Find your insurance plan
Cancelling insurance
FAQ

Most of the time, you can easily cancel auto insurance by contacting your insurer and asking them to do it or requesting the proper procedure to do so.

Having personal car insurance is one of the critical elements of owning a vehicle, and you should never drive a car that is uninsured. However, there are times where you’ll need to cancel the car insurance that you have.

Perhaps you’re

cancelling your insurance to sell your car

, or you simply don’t plan on driving it for a while. Maybe you’re going on a long trip and don’t want to be charged for the time that your car is simply sitting in the garage. Or maybe you’ve found a better deal and you’re ready to drop your car insurance plan so that you can switch carriers to one better suited for your needs.

Whatever the reason, if you no longer need your car insurance coverage, you’ll need to cancel the plan immediately so that you don’t get charged for a plan that you don’t need.

If you're trying to find a new policy don't want to cancel with the old-fashioned method of calling up your agent or spend so much time getting quotes from other carriers, try

Jerry

Jerry will help you save money on your new car insurance policy. A licensed broker, Jerry does all the hard work of finding the cheapest quotes from the top name-brand insurance companies and buying new car insurance. Jerry will even help you cancel your old policy.

And to ensure you always have the lowest rate, Jerry will send you new quotes every time your policy comes up for renewal, so you’re always getting the coverage you want at the best price. This level of service is why Jerry earned a 4.6/5 rating on the App Store and made it the top insurance app in the country.

How to find out the details of your insurance plan

Car insurance plans have different payment policies. Depending on your plan, your contract may be month-to-month, or it may be quarterly. If this is the case, when you cancel your insurance plan, you’ll simply be billed for the rest of the period, and that’s it.

However, you may have an insurance policy that requires you to sign a contract for a set amount of time, usually a year. If that’s the case, you may be on the hook for the entirety of that contract, or you may be charged a fee if you cancel your policy.

Note: If you’re canceling your insurance plan because your car has been totaled, you will be able to do so with no extra fees or charges.

How to cancel auto insurance

Once you know the details of your car insurance payment policy, it’s time to contact your insurance provider and cancel your plan.

You can do this over the phone or by visiting an office. For some larger insurance companies, you can even contact them through an online chat feature on their website.

Talk with your insurance agent, let them know that you would like to cancel your insurance plan, and tell them why. Even if you are bound to a longer contract, you can sometimes talk the insurance companies down if you let them know the reason for your cancellation.

The insurance agent will let you know the process for cancelling your plan. Sometimes, they'll even do it for you. In some cases, you’ll have to file paperwork manually and send your notice of cancellation to the auto insurance provider.

Contact the DMV. After you’ve canceled your car insurance, you should contact the DMV to let them know that the vehicle is no longer insured. This helps them keep current records on you, and also keep you from getting erroneous charges for the vehicle.

Whatever the reason for your insurance cancellation, the process is easy, and relatively quick. You can get your insurance canceled swiftly so that you don’t have to pay any extra money for protection packages that you don’t need.

Key Takeaway: Contact your insurance agent and provider and tell why you want to cancel your plan. After the cancellation—which might involve some paperwork—update the DMV on your insurance status.

FAQ

Can you cancel insurance at any time?

Technically, yes, you can cancel insurance at any time. However, some carriers won't give you a refund for the remainder of your six-month cycle, so it might be better to wait to cancel.

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