Cancel insurance in Belgium: notice and registered post

Quick answer

In Belgium, you cancel a non-life policy at its renewal date (échéance) by giving notice at least two months before it (art. 85 de la loi du 4 avril 2014 relative aux assurances), or, as a consumer, at any time after the first year, without costs, effective two months later (art. 85/1). The law requires registered post (envoi recommandé), a bailiff, hand delivery against a receipt or a qualified electronic route (art. 84). A MaisonMail standard or tracked letter is not valid notice. The simplest route is often to let your new insurer cancel for you: it cannot refuse. Life and hospitalisation policies follow other rules, and stopping the direct debit does not cancel a policy.

This guide is for consumers ending insurance policies in Belgium. Only the policyholder (preneur d’assurance) can cancel, not an insured person or a beneficiary. Check your policy’s general and specific conditions (conditions générales, conditions particulières) and the last premium notice (avis d’échéance). It is general information, not legal advice. For phone, energy and gym contracts, see our guide to cancelling a contract in Belgium; for a dispute with your insurer, see formal complaints in Belgium. Belgian law imposes no language on a private letter (art. 30 of the Constitution), so the French examples below are valid in Flanders too, although a Flemish insurer may answer in Dutch.

Cancel at the renewal date or after the first year

A policy lasts at most one year and renews tacitly for one year at a time. To stop the renewal, object at least two months before the échéance; the contract cannot impose another notice period (art. 85, § 1er). This two-month rule applies to contracts concluded or tacitly renewed since 1 October 2024, so by now it covers any annual policy. Insurer letters, websites and the 2019 standard terms for car insurance may still say three months: the two-month rule prevails, because this part of the law is mandatory (art. 56). The law does not say clearly whether the posting date or the receipt date counts for these two months, so post well before the deadline.

As a consumer, you can also cancel a tacitly renewable non-life policy at any time once a year has passed since it started (its prise de cours, not the last renewal), without costs or penalties (art. 85/1). The cancellation takes effect two months after the day following the posting of the registered letter, the bailiff’s service or the date of the receipt. Each premium notice must remind you of this right. The insurer refunds the premium paid for the period after the cancellation within 30 days of that date (art. 73). In a combined policy (police combinée), say whether you are ending the whole policy or certain covers only.

Let your new insurer cancel for you

If you cancel at the échéance or under art. 85/1 to take out a new policy, you can ask the new insurer or broker to carry out the cancellation, and it cannot refuse; it must make sure the new cover starts no later than the end of the old one (art. 85/1, § 3). You sign a request on a durable medium, such as paper or a PDF, stating that you want to cancel the current contract and take out a new one, with your name and address, the current insurer and its company number (numéro d’entreprise), the policy number and covers, the start date and the annual expiry date (arrêté royal du 16 septembre 2024). This is the easiest route if you live outside Belgium.

Send the cancellation in a form the law accepts

A résiliation (cancellation) can use only these channels (art. 84, § 1er and § 3):

• Registered post (envoi recommandé, often called a lettre recommandée): no acknowledgement of receipt is required, and the period before the cancellation takes effect runs from the day after posting (art. 84, § 2). The law does not require Belgian post, so a registered letter from your own post office abroad should qualify.
• A bailiff’s service (exploit d’huissier).
• Hand delivery against a receipt (remise contre récépissé), for example at the insurer’s or broker’s office.
• A qualified electronic registered delivery service or, if the insurer offers it, cancellation in its online environment with a qualified electronic signature. Ordinary email does not qualify.

Unless another rule applies, a cancellation takes effect at least one month after the day following the posting, the service or the receipt, and the letter must state that period (art. 84, § 2). The example below gives both common grounds; keep the one that applies. Replace every placeholder, add both addresses, the place and the date, and sign it. Send it by registered post, not with MaisonMail.

Objet : Résiliation du contrat d’assurance — police n° [numéro de police]

Madame, Monsieur,

En ma qualité de preneur d’assurance, je résilie le contrat d’assurance [type d’assurance, par exemple RC familiale ou incendie] n° [numéro de police], qui a pris cours le [date de prise de cours] ([pour une assurance automobile : marque, modèle et numéro de plaque du véhicule]).

[Cette résiliation est faite conformément à l’article 85/1 de la loi du 4 avril 2014 relative aux assurances et prend effet à l’expiration d’un délai de deux mois prenant cours le lendemain du dépôt du présent envoi recommandé, soit le [date]. / Cette résiliation est faite conformément à l’article 85 de la loi du 4 avril 2014 relative aux assurances et prend effet à l’échéance du [date d’échéance].] À défaut, elle prend effet à la première date permise par la loi. [Elle porte sur l’ensemble de la police. / Elle porte uniquement sur les garanties suivantes : [garanties].]

Je vous prie de me confirmer par écrit la réception de la présente et la date de prise d’effet de la résiliation, et de me rembourser, dans les trente jours suivant cette date, la partie de la prime afférente à la période postérieure, sur le compte [IBAN] au nom de [titulaire du compte].

Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l’expression de mes salutations distinguées. [Prénom et nom] [Signature]

After a claim, a sale or a premium change

• After a claim: you can cancel only if the contract gives the insurer that right. Send notice no later than one month after the insurer pays or refuses the claim; it takes effect after at least three months (art. 86). It never applies to life or health insurance, and after the first year art. 85/1 is usually faster.
• Selling your car: the motor liability policy (RC auto) does not end. If the car is not replaced, or the replacement is not declared, within 16 days of the transfer, the contract is suspended, and the premium stays due until the insurer learns of the sale (standard terms annexed to the arrêté royal du 16 avril 2018, art. 10 and 24). Tell the insurer at once, then cancel at the échéance or under art. 85/1, or reactivate the policy for another car.
• Selling your home: the insurance of the building ends automatically three months after the authentic deed (art. 111).
• Premium increase: for RC auto, you can cancel after an increase, unless it follows a clear clause of the contract such as indexation or bonus-malus (standard terms, art. 19 and 27, § 3). For other policies, it depends on the contract. If your risk falls significantly and lastingly and you do not agree a lower premium within a month of asking, you can cancel (art. 80).
• Stopping payment: it does not cancel the policy. The insurer sends a mise en demeure (formal notice), then suspends or ends the cover, and can still claim premiums for up to two consecutive years during a suspension (art. 69 to 72).

Life and hospitalisation insurance

The tacit-renewal rules of art. 85 do not apply. However long the contract, you can cancel it each year, on the anniversary of its start date or on the annual premium date; the contract may set its own notice period, so check it. The forms of art. 84 and the one-month minimum still apply (art. 85, § 1er). Hospitalisation and other health policies are concluded for life: the insurer cannot end them except in cases set by law, and premiums can rise only on the annual due date, in line with set indices (art. 201 to 204). If you give one up, a new policy will be priced on your age and health at that time. Ending a savings or investment life policy usually means a surrender (rachat), which Wikifin, the financial regulator’s education site, describes as often costly; it may also have tax consequences, and a beneficiary who has accepted the benefit must consent (art. 178).

Changing your mind about a new policy

You can withdraw from a new policy of 30 days or more, with immediate effect and without giving reasons: within 30 days for life insurance and 14 days for other insurance (art. 57, § 3). For non-life policies concluded in person, this right exists only if the contract was formed through a pre-signed policy (police présignée) or an insurance application (demande d’assurance). The period runs from when the insurer tells you the contract is concluded, or from receipt of the terms if later. For non-life policies concluded at a distance, you have 14 calendar days, and you may owe only for cover already provided; travel or baggage policies of under one month are excluded (art. 57, § 5, with art. VI.58 and VI.59 CDE). Since 14 August 2026, a policy sold online must offer a withdrawal function labelled “renoncer au contrat ici” or similar (art. VI.61/2 CDE); whether it covers contracts concluded between 19 June and 13 August 2026 is unclear. The law does not settle whether a withdrawal must use the forms of art. 84: use the online function where it exists, otherwise registered post.

Complain to the insurer and the Ombudsman

If the insurer refuses your cancellation, keeps billing you or does not refund the premium, write to its complaints service (service de gestion des plaintes), whose details are usually in the policy. If that fails, the Ombudsman des Assurances (Square de Meeûs 35, 1000 Bruxelles) handles the dispute for free. Its request must be in writing, by web form, post or email, in French, Dutch, German or English; include your identity and address, a short description, the insurer’s name and the policy or claim reference, with a copy of your complaint and the reply. The insurer has a month to respond and the Ombudsman gives a non-binding opinion within 90 days of a complete file. Premium collection and limitation periods are suspended while it handles your case. It does not handle cases already in court or policies governed by foreign law. If you are unsure which body to contact, the Service de Médiation pour le Consommateur forwards a médiation request to the competent one. If you have legal-expenses insurance, use it first. Claims of up to €5,000, such as a premium refund, go to the juge de paix (justice of the peace, art. 590 C. jud.).

Objet : Plainte — police n° [numéro de police]

Madame, Monsieur,

Je suis preneur d’assurance du contrat n° [numéro de police]. Le [date], je l’ai résilié par [envoi recommandé, exploit d’huissier, remise contre récépissé ou l’intermédiaire de mon nouvel assureur], avec effet au [date de prise d’effet]. [Description brève et objective du problème, par exemple : vous n’avez pas confirmé la résiliation, vous continuez à réclamer des primes pour la période postérieure à cette date ou vous n’avez pas remboursé la partie de la prime afférente à cette période.]

Je vous demande de [demande précise : confirmer la date de fin du contrat, annuler l’avis d’échéance n° [numéro] ou me rembourser [montant] euros sur le compte [IBAN]] et de me répondre par écrit dans un délai de quinze jours à compter de la réception de la présente. Je joins une copie des pièces suivantes : [liste].

À défaut de réponse satisfaisante, je me réserve le droit de saisir l’Ombudsman des Assurances.

Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l’expression de mes salutations distinguées. [Prénom et nom] [Adresse]

Post your letters and keep evidence

The cancellation letter cannot be sent with MaisonMail: a standard or tracked letter is not a lettre recommandée, so send it by registered post, have it served by a bailiff, hand it over against a receipt or ask your new insurer to cancel for you. The complaint letter and a written request to the Ombudsman can go by ordinary post: upload your final PDF or write the letter in MaisonMail, and add copies of your evidence. Use the complaints address in your policy or on the insurer’s website. The recipient address determines the destination; available services, estimated delivery and the final price appear before payment. Keep a copy of the exact letter and attachments. Tracking shows that an item arrived, not what the envelope contained.