Switching insurance in Luxembourg: notice, termination and timeline

The rule: once a year, 30 days before the renewal date

In Luxembourg, the parties set the term of an insurance contract, but tacit renewal can never exceed one year. Above all, the law of 27 July 1997 on insurance contracts gives the policyholder an annual right to terminate: every year, at the annual premium due date (or, failing that, on the contract’s anniversary), you can end it by notifying the insurer 30 days before that date (article 38). The insurer has the same right, with 60 days’ notice. This applies to car, home, private liability and professional liability cover; life and health insurance are excluded, and their exit terms are set by the contract.

The 30-day notice dates from the law of 21 December 2012. The original 1997 text required three months: if you read “three months” elsewhere, it refers to the old version.

The renewal notice, your best reference point

At each annual due date, the insurer must send you a notice stating the due date, your right to terminate and the date until which you can exercise it, any price increase and the amount due (article 20). For annual-premium contracts, this notice must leave you at least 30 days to terminate.

If the deadline is not stated explicitly, the law protects you: you can terminate without penalty at any time from the due date, up to 60 days after it. Termination then takes effect on the second working day after your letter is sent, and the premium for the period since the due date is calculated pro rata, at the old rate.

How to terminate: three accepted forms

Termination is made by registered letter, by bailiff’s writ or by handing over the termination letter against a receipt (article 39). State the contract number and the requested effective date, and keep proof of sending. If you have already paid for a period after termination, the insurer must refund those premiums within 30 days (article 40).

Not paying is not terminating. An unpaid premium triggers a formal notice by registered letter; cover can be suspended 30 days later, and the contract terminated by the insurer ten days after that (articles 21 and 22). The premiums due remain owed, and you are left without cover.

Price increase, claim, lower risk: the other ways out

• Price increase: it can only apply from the next annual due date and must be announced at least 30 days beforehand. You then have at least 60 days from the sending of the renewal notice to terminate; if the increase was not explicitly stated in it, you can terminate without penalty up to 60 days after the due date (article 42).
• Termination by the insurer after a claim: if your contract provides for it and the insurer uses this right, you can in turn terminate your other contracts with that insurer within the following month (article 41).
• Lower risk: if the risk falls significantly and durably, the insurer must reduce the premium; failing agreement within a month of your request, you can terminate (article 33).

Life, health, distance contracts: special cases

Life and health insurance fall outside the annual termination right: read your contract’s exit terms. An individual life insurance contract of more than six months does, however, give you a 30-day right of withdrawal after it is concluded (article 100). For any contract concluded at a distance, online or by phone, you have 14 calendar days to withdraw without reason or penalty, except for travel or luggage insurance of less than a month (article 62-3).

Switching without a gap in cover: the timeline

• Two to three months before the due date: find the date on your contract or last notice, and request quotes.
• Before sending the termination: sign the new contract with cover starting on the due date, so that you are never uninsured.
• At the latest 30 days before the due date: send the termination by registered letter and keep the proof.
• Car: ask for your claims history certificate; your bonus-malus level follows you from one insurer to the next.
• Health: check the waiting period of the new top-up plan, often three months, up to eight for some benefits, and often waived if you were already covered; our article on CNS reimbursements covers this point.

To compare before switching, our comparisons put the main insurers side by side: car, home, health. A licensed partner insurer also tells you which formalities to complete, including terminating your old contract on time.