Thanks to the internet, sourcing car insurance quotes has never been easier. It’s estimated that millions of UK motorists could save money on their car insurance premiums if they were to look for alternative quotes rather than automatically renew.
Despite it being so fast and convenient to get car insurance quotes online, many people don’t bother and simply choose to automatically renew with their existing car insurance company instead.
Listed below are some of the pros and cons of renewing automatically without searching for new car insurance quotes.
Pros of automatic car insurance renewal
- Convenience
Most car insurance renewal quotes come with a letter saying you don’t need to take any action in order to renew.
The obvious benefit of this is convenience. Many people lead hectic lives and by making things simple for them, car insurance companies can achieve higher policy renewal rates.
Just remember that if any details have changed since you took out your policy, such as having a speeding conviction, you’ll need to let your insurer know.
- Trust
If you’re completely happy with the policy and customer service provided by your car insurance company, then you may want to trust them for another year. Many people prefer to take a ‘better the devil you know’ approach and benefit from the peace of mind knowing they have an insurer they can trust.
Cons of automatic car insurance renewal
- You could pay more than you have to
The biggest disadvantage of renewing your car insurance automatically is you could end up paying more than you have to. If you don’t even take a moment to look at other car insurance quotes, how do you know if yours is competitive or not?
In some cases people could be paying out hundreds of pounds more than they need to by automatically renewing their car insurance policies.
At least if you do make a comparison and the difference is only minimal, you can then make the decision as to whether or not you want to stay with your existing car insurance company.
- You could be missing out on extra benefits
Car insurance policies can come with a whole host of added benefits ranging from legal protection and courtesy cars to breakdown cover.
If you automatically renew a basic policy, you might later find that you could have got car insurance cover with lots of extra for a similar price or less.
Even if you really want to stay with your existing car insurance company, making a comparison can give you a good bargaining tool to ask them to match another quote.
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