5 tips to remember when it’s time to renew your car insurance

Shopping for motor insurance can be a tedious, borderline annoying process. Between finding a trustworthy insurance provider, identifying the best possible plan they sell, filling out paperwork, and handling payment, by the time you get insured, you’re happy to be done with it all.

Honestly, we’d likely all prefer to just get our insurance and be done with it. Sure, we know there will be more tedium down the road should we need to make use of our insurance, but outside of that, we’d like to push the thought of car insurance right out of our minds.

Time, on the other hand, has other plans. This is because, while it may seem that our car insurance policies go on and on, in reality they are renewed on a yearly basis. It’s even possible that it’s being renewed without you realizing it. So, what should you know about your car insurance renewal? Here, Kwiksure provides 5 tips to remember when renewing your car insurance in Hong Kong.

Tip #1: Be aware of your renewal date

The first step towards handling your renewal properly is to actually know when it is. Even if you have automatic renewal on your car insurance plan, your insurer should provide you with notification of a pending renewal one to two months prior to the renewal date. This notification can come in just about any form, including a posted letter, an email, a phone call, or a text message.

If you are not sure of when this date is, or if you suspect your renewal date is imminent and you haven’t been notified, you should take a moment to contact either your insurance provider or broker to get clarification on how much time you have.

Tip #2: Watch out for premium increases

If the cost of your car insurance is going to go up, the most likely time that you will see this reflected in the amount of money you need to pay is right after your renewal. This is because the terms of your annual car insurance are laid out in your policy documentation, but upon renewal these terms are subject to change if either party has any changes they would like to make.

If you’ve made significant claims during the previous year, resulting in a net loss for the insurer during that time, it’s practically inevitable that the insurer will be raising your premiums at renewal time, if not sooner.  Even if you didn’t make any claims during the year, insurance companies still have a habit of making incremental premium increases regularly, so do not hesitate to inquire about any proposed premium or benefit changes with your insurance agent, as well as the reasons for them, before you consent to renew your policy.

Tip #3: Know your ‘No Claims Discount’

Just in case you didn't know, car insurance companies in Hong Kong will give a discount to policyholders that go a lengthy amount of time without making a claim on their insurance policy. This is known as a ‘No Claims Discount’ (NCD).

These periods of time and associated discounts can vary from insurer to insurer, but the maximum NCD allowed in Hong Kong is 60% off of the insured’s annual premiums, which results in very substantial savings.

Make sure you know what your insurance provider’s policies governing NCDs are, so that you can make sure you are being given the proper discount at the proper time.

Tip #4: Dare to change your benefits

Renewal time is the perfect time to consider you current benefits, and decide if there are any changes you would like to make to your car insurance policy. There are any number of reasons that you may want to change aspects of your car insurance plan when it comes time to renew it. Maybe a friend or family member’s bad experience has left you with a desire to enhance your benefit levels. Perhaps you’ve recently had a promotion or raise at work and would like to upgrade your coverage.

Whatever your reasoning, it’s never a bad idea to re-familiarize yourself with the terms of your car insurance at renewal time. In this way, you can make sure that your plan is still meeting your needs, and examine any options available to you that you may find beneficial. Common changes to existing insurance policies include, but are not limited to:

• Raising or lowering your deductible

• Raising the maximum payout your benefits will provide

• Adding a rider

• Changing from 3rd party only to comprehensive insurance, or vice versa

Tip #5 Watch out for auto-renewal

Many people opt to minimize the impact of their yearly renewal by opting to have their policy renew automatically, and, in most cases, insurers are happy to oblige. There have been concerns raised by many policyholders who have had poor experiences as a result of auto-renewal, however.

Outlets like the BBC have highlighted such instances. They recount tales of insurance providers that continue charging for an insurance policy even though the policyholder has notified the insurer that they wanted to cancel the policy. This is not to mention instances where insurers fail to properly notify policyholders of their impending renewals.

While these things can sometimes be straightened out with insurers, sometimes money will have already been withdrawn from a policyholder’s account and the insurer will refuse to return it. What’s more, cancellation of a policy sometimes will result in additional fees being imposed by an insurer. To be clear, people would do well to cancel their policy in a timely manner to avoid extra charges, which means being diligent in notifying their insurer well before it’s time for a renewal.

Bonus tip!

Finally, we have a bonus tip for you, and that is, “Don’t let your car insurance expire.” This should be obvious to drivers, as without car insurance coverage of some kind, it is illegal to operate a vehicle in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the penalty for driving without insurance starts with a loss of driving privileges in Hong Kong for 1-3 years. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the maximum penalty for the offence includes an HKD 10,000 fine, and up to 12 months in prison!

Clearly you don’t want to end up with these types of fines, so finding an insurance provider and policy that you will want to keep year-after year the first time round can help make sure that you never have any issues surrounding renewals or a lapse in car insurance coverage. In order to find such a plan, it’s best to work with an experienced, knowledgeable insurance broker like Kwiksure.

Our advisors, after taking just a few details, can scour the car insurance plans on offer from numerous Hong Kong car insurance providers, and present you with a free plan comparison and price quotation. They can even help you find a new insurer, get your existing policy cancelled, and ensure that there is never a gap in your motor insurance coverage. Contact Kwiksure or use our online quotation system today to receive a free quote today!