Rebecca Harris MP is standing up for drivers in Castle Point, as new research commissioned by MoneySuperMarket shows that they could be losing out on savings of up to £2,161,066 a year on their car insurance because of unfair practices by insurers.

With a total national waste of £1.3 billion as drivers are coaxed to not shop around, Rebecca Harris MP is calling on insurers to clean up their act and be up front with customers when they automatically renew their car insurance policies.

62 per cent of consumers say auto-renewals deter them from shopping around for a more affordable policy. And almost six million drivers (23 per cent) automatically renewed their car insurance with their existing provider when their policy was last up for renewal, without checking a single other quote.

The report shines a light on the poor practices of insurers, revealing that people often have no idea that they’re agreeing to auto-renewal when they first buy their policy, and would have no way of opting out even if they did. When renewal time arrives, the letter or email they get from their insurer can be confusing and misleading, and even conceal significant changes to their policy.

Cancelling an auto-renewed policy can be difficult and costly, with some providers charging cancellation fees or driving customers to expensive premium rate telephone numbers. Most insurers do not provide an online cancellation process.

Rebecca Harris MP said:

“It’s unacceptable that drivers in Castle Point are losing out on £2,161,066 because of unclear and unfair practices by the car insurance industry. This is money many can’t afford to waste. Insurers must start being much clearer with their customers about auto-renewals, to put drivers back in control of their insurance. People shouldn’t have payments automatically taken from their accounts unless they have given their explicit consent and know how to stop them.

“This report shows that some people may be double charged, driving underinsured or simply paying too much without realising it. And the over-55s, those with less money, and people not on the internet suffer more than most. Insurers need to do more to ensure this doesn’t happen.”

Dan Plant, editor-in-chief at MoneySuperMarket, said:

“As our report lays bare, auto-renewal is far from fair, it reduces proper competition and ultimately costs consumers big money.

“Our Eight Point Plan shows how insurers can make the auto-renewal process fairer and clearer, helping customers to save money. Simple changes such as writing renewal notices in plain English, displaying last year’s policy price against the renewal price and providing a click-through cancellation button on renewal emails will help drivers to make sure they are fully covered and not paying more than they need to.”