Car cover renewal warning this Christmas

With the country’s Christmas mailbag set to top the 2 billion mark, Privilege Insurance is advising motorists not to overlook their car insurance renewal notice in favour of more exciting deliveries.

Privilege sends out a renewal notice 21 days in advance of an insurance policy’s expiry date, enabling customers to consider the quote and assess any changes they might need to make to their cover. However, unless customers sign up for the policy to be automatically renewed, they must respond before their cover expires to avoid being left without insurance. There are no ‘days of grace’ giving motorists who miss their renewal some leeway – either with insurers or in the eyes of the law.

Over 34,000 accidents took place last December and January underlining the importance of making sure you are covered. Motorists whose annual renewal dates fall at this time of year can avoid inadvertently driving without insurance by signing up for automatic renewal of their policy next time round. They will then be notified of any changes in premium and, unless they wish to cancel, the policy is renewed for another year without the need for any further action.

Ian Parker, Managing Director of Privilege Insurance commented: "Christmas can be a busy time and, amidst all the excitement, it is easy to overlook chores such as renewing your car insurance. But forgetting to do so can have serious and expensive consequences.

"A quick call to your insurer, and perhaps one or two others for comparison, will enable you to relax and enjoy the rest of the festivities knowing that you will be covered should you be unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident come the new year."