If you've paid your premiums in advance, QBE will refund you the proportion of the premiums for the remaining period of insurance, less any administration fees.
If there is a refund of premium owed to you as a result of a cancellation or alteration to a policy, we will retain any fee we have charged you and reserve the right to retain the full commission.
If you pay your premium annually and are charged a cancellation fee, it will be deducted from your refund. If you pay monthly, you will owe the outstanding amount along with the cancellation fee.
You can also check your insurer's product disclosure statement (PDS) for confirmation of the cancellation charge.
Can I transfer car insurance policies to someone else?
This is because car insurance policies are priced based on the primary driver’s level of risk. However, you can always call your insurer to double check their rules.
Compulsory third party (CTP) insurance is the exception. This can typically be transferred along with car registration in most states.
You might wish to do this if you’ve sold your car and want to put the CTP in the new car owner’s name.
Can I transfer my policy to another car?
In most cases the answer is yes.
However, it’s important to understand that transferring your policy to a new car will come with a change in the price of your premium.
If you upgrade your car, your premium will be more expensive. If you downgrade your car, your premium will likely be cheaper.
There’s a good chance you’ll have to answer a bunch of questions, just like you would if you were taking out a new policy.
Is it time to cancel, or do you just need to switch?
This will primarily depend on your situation.
If you simply don’t need car insurance anymore, then go right ahead and cancel your policy.
But if you do still need insurance and are simply finding the premiums pricey, there are some potential steps that could ease your bank balance a bit.
Oftentimes, your insurer is more interested in keeping you as a customer and will drop its price for your loyalty.
Try this tip from Finder’s car insurance expert, Peta.
“Getting on the phone and asking your insurer if they can give you a better price is a tip I will live and die by. They’re often more concerned with keeping you as a customer so they’ll lower their premium if you just ask. Last time I got my car insurance renewal, it was so expensive that I was ready to cancel it. Instead, I got on the phone and asked if they could be flexible with the price. I ended up saving about $200! There’s no catch, it’s just that easy.”
Use this script to negotiate with your insurer
You:"Hi! I was looking at my car insurance premium and it’s more expensive than I was expecting. I was wondering if there’s any flexibility around that price? I’ve gotten a few other quotes elsewhere that are coming in cheaper."
Them: "Hello. No worries, let me see what we can do for you."
At this point, they’ll typically transfer you to someone in sales.
Sales team: "Hi, I can see here that you’d like to see if we can do a better price for you on your car insurance premium. We can reduce this by around 7%. How does that sound?"
You: "That’s excellent, thank you!"
Alternatively, if they’re unwilling to budge on price then it’s time to compare and switch.
FAQs
Yes, it’s really easy. You just have to get in touch with your insurer. This can usually be done via phone, email or in their app if they’ve got one.
Your car insurer may change a cancellation fee but it’s usually pretty minor and can max out at around $40 in most cases.
This will largely depend on how you pay - is it monthly or annually?
If you pay monthly then nothing happens and at most, you might be asked to pay a cancellation fee of around $40.
If you pay annually, the insurer will refund you the unused portion of your premium and deduct any cancellation fees if they do charge one.
Peta Taylor is a publisher at Finder, working across all of insurance. She's been analysing product disclosure statements and publishing articles for over 2 years. Peta is passionate about demystifying complex insurance products to help users make well educated decisions with confidence. Peta is part of Finder's insurance awards team and works alongside editorial and insights experts to bring users the best insurance products every year. See full bio
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