Guide to Cancelling Your Home Insurance: What to Do When You Miss the Notice Period

You have taken out home insurance for your home, but you want to cancel it to change contract or company. Only, you forgot to respect the notice period and you find yourself stuck with your current insurance. What to do in this case?

When can you cancel your home insurance?

The Hamon law of March 17, 2014 simplified the procedures for terminating home insurance contracts. Thus, it is possible to terminate your insurance at any time, without costs or penalties, after one year of commitment.. You do not need to justify your decision, you just need to send a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt to your insurer, giving one month’s notice. Then you can do an online home insurance simulation to make the right choice.

You can also cancel your home insurance in the following cases:

• At the annual expiry date of the contract, by sending a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt to your insurer at least two months before the expiry date;
• In the event of a change of situation (moving, marriage, divorce, death, etc.), by sending a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt to your insurer within three months of the change;
• In the event of an unjustified increase in the tariff or modification of the guarantees by your insurer, by sending a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt to your insurer within 15 days of notification of the change.

Check the termination conditions of your contract

The first thing to do is to check the cancellation conditions of your home insurance contract. Indeed, depending on the date of subscription and the duration of the contract, you can benefit from different reasons for termination.

If your contract dates from before 1^is January 2015, you must respect a notice period of two months before the annual due date to send your registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt to your insurer. If you have exceeded this deadline, you will have to wait for the next due date to terminate your contract.

If your contract dates after 1ᵉʳ January 2015, you can benefit from the Hamon law, which allows you to cancel your home insurance at any time after one year of commitment, without costs or penalties. You simply have to send your cancellation request to your insurer by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, specifying the desired date of cancellation. Your contract will then be terminated within one month.

If you move, you can also terminate your home insurance without waiting for the annual expiry date, on the grounds of a change in your situation. You must then provide your insurer with proof of the move, such as a lease or an electricity bill, and send your cancellation request by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt within three months of the move.

Compare available home insurance offers

Once you have checked the termination conditions of your contract, you can start comparing the home insurance offers available on the market. For this, you can use an online home insurance simulation, which will allow you to obtain personalized quotes according to your needs and your profile.

By comparing the offers, you can choose the home insurance that suits you best, in terms of guarantees, deductibles, rates and services. You will be able to save on the cost of your insurance and benefit from better coverage for your accommodation.

Take out new home insurance

Once you’ve chosen your new home insurance, you can purchase it online or over the phone. You will then have to provide information relating to your accommodation, such as its surface area, number of rooms, value or type of heating. It is also necessary to indicate the guarantees you want to take out, such as civil liability, theft, fire or water damage.

You will then receive a provisional contract by email or by post, which you must sign and send back to your new insurer. You will then have a withdrawal period of 14 days to change your mind if necessary.

Your new insurer will then take care of terminating your old contract with your old insurer, if you benefit from the Hamon law. Otherwise, you will have to carry out this process yourself by respecting the conditions of termination mentioned above.