Insurance cancellation letter
Page reviewed on 11 September 2026 Template compliant with Belgian non-marine insurance law.
Renewal date, cancelling after a year, premium increase, after a claim, accidents at work: the generator writes the notice with the required wording and calculates the dates. Everything happens in your browser: no data is sent unless you ask for it.
- Time needed
- 3 minutes
- Output
- Copy or PDF
- Review
- Free, 1 working day
- Last updated
- September 2026
The essentials in one line
A valid cancellation identifies the policy unambiguously, relies on a right that is genuinely open to you, is sent within the deadline and in a form provided for by law. The rest is just courtesy.
Your letter, written as you fill in the form
Empty fields appear in orange in the letter: there is nothing to submit, everything updates live.
Still to complete: renewal date, insurer name, insurer address, insurer postcode, insurer town, policy number, type of policy, policyholder name, place, policyholder address, postcode, town.
Indicative template. Check the renewal date on your policy schedule and send by registered post: it is the only proof of posting that holds.
Have it checked before you send it.
A registered broker reads your letter, checks that the grounds you rely on are genuinely open to you and that the deadline holds. It is free, without obligation, and the answer comes within one working day.
- We check that the grounds you rely on are genuinely open to you.
- We recalculate the deadline from your policy schedule.
- If you ask, we price the replacement policy.
Send my letter for review
Reply within one working day. Your data is used only to handle this request, and you can ask for it to be deleted at any time.
Five mistakes that cost a year's premium
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1. The notice period counted from the wrong date
The deadline runs from the day the registered letter is posted, not from when it is received nor from the date written on it. Two months before renewal means: posted at the latest two months before, to the day.
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2. Missing grounds, or grounds that do not exist in your case
Not being satisfied is not grounds for cancelling. The letter must say which right you are exercising, and that right must actually be open to you: the fourteen-day withdrawal, for instance, depends on how the policy was concluded.
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3. A company cancellation signed without stating capacity
If the policyholder is a company, the letter must name the individual signing and their capacity. An illegible signature under a company letterhead gets sent back.
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4. Treating accidents at work like everything else
Three months' notice, registered post compulsory, and cover that can never be interrupted: it is a different Act. An employer without accidents-at-work insurance is personally liable.
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5. Cancelling before the next policy is in place
The gap in cover happens between the end of the old policy and the start of the new one. For motor liability and accidents at work, that gap is not merely risky: it is illegal.
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The simple habit
Have the letter checked before posting it. It is free, it takes one working day, and it costs far less than a year's renewed premium.
Which deadline for which grounds
- Annual renewal date Private individuals and businesses At the latest 2 months before renewal At renewal
- At any time after a yearcancellation at any time after a year Private individuals (consumers) only, non-life policy more than a year old Whenever you want 2 months after the day following dispatch
- Withdrawal Any policyholder, policy longer than a month Within 14 days of conclusion Immediate, premium refunded
- Premium increase or change of terms Private individuals and businesses On receiving the notice, within the period set by the policy On the date the change was due to apply
- After a claim You and the insurer At the latest 1 month after the settlement is paid or refused 3 months after notice
- Accidents at work (assurance loi) The employer At the latest 3 months before renewal, by registered post At renewal, with no break in cover
The insurer's deadlines differ from yours: at renewal it must give three months' notice, without having to justify itself.
What we are asked most often
- Do I always have 14 days to withdraw from a policy I have just taken out?
- No, and this is the most common mistake on the subject. The fourteen-day withdrawal depends on how the policy was concluded. It is open to you if the policy was formed by signing a pre-signed policy or an insurance application (article 57 §3 of the Act of 4 April 2014), and, if you are a consumer, when you bought at a distance. It is not open when the insurer gave you a quotation after a study which you accepted, the common case for negotiated business risks. The period runs from the date cover starts, not from your signature. Policies of less than a month and short-term travel or baggage insurance are excluded.
- Do I really have to send it by registered post?
- The Act of 4 April 2014 allows three forms: registered post, service by bailiff, and delivery of the letter against a receipt. Since 1 October 2024 cancellation can also go through the insurer's digital environment with a qualified electronic signature, where one is offered. Registered post remains the only simple proof of the date of posting, and it is that date that starts the clock. For accidents at work it is compulsory.
- Can I cancel by email?
- Many insurers do accept it in practice for ordinary classes of business. But email is not among the forms provided for by law: if the date is disputed, you have nothing to rely on. Use it to warn your contact, never to replace registered post.
- I missed the notice period. Am I stuck for a year?
- Not necessarily. If you are a private individual and the non-life policy is more than a year old, you can leave at any time: the cancellation takes effect two months after the day following dispatch, and any premium overpaid is refunded (article 85/1). For a business policy this right does not exist: what remains is the next renewal date, or specific grounds such as a premium increase.
- Do I have to name my new insurer?
- It is not compulsory for standard non-life insurance, and leaving it blank is perfectly fine. It is strongly advised for motor liability and accidents at work, where cover cannot be interrupted: naming the new insurer and the take-over date avoids both a gap in cover and double cover.
- Can the insurer refuse my cancellation?
- It can dispute it if it is out of time, if it does not identify the policy, or if the grounds relied on do not open a right to cancel. It cannot refuse it on the grounds that you are moving to a competitor. If the reply is slow, chase in writing: the insurer's silence does not extend your policy when the cancellation was valid.
- What if the policy is in two names?
- The policyholder is the person who signed the policy and pays the premium. If there are two (a couple, joint owners, co-owners), have both sign: an insurer can require the agreement of all policyholders to register the cancellation.
Legal references
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Act of 4 April 2014 on insurance
- Art. 84 forms of cancellation and effective date.
- Art. 85 §1 blocking automatic renewal: two months for the policyholder, three for the insurer.
- Art. 85/1 cancellation at any time after a year, for consumers.
- Art. 86 cancellation after a claim.
- Art. 57 §3 fourteen-day withdrawal for policies formed by a pre-signed policy or an insurance application.
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Amending texts and the special regime
- Act of 9 October 2023 reform of the cancellation rules, in force on 1 October 2024.
- Act of 10 April 1971 accidents at work, its own regime: renewal date only, three months' notice, registered post compulsory.
This page is for information and does not constitute personalised advice within the meaning of the Act of 4 April 2014. The rules cited reflect Belgian law as amended by the reform of 1st October 2024 and, for accidents at work, the Act of 10 April 1971.