Cancel insurance in Italy: disdetta, RC auto and examples

Quick answer

Car insurance (RC auto) ends automatically at expiry: no disdetta is needed. For home, liability and other non-life policies with tacit renewal (tacito rinnovo), send a disdetta (notice that you will not renew) that reaches the insurer before the deadline in your policy, often 30 or 60 days before expiry. Multi-year policies can usually be left only after five years, with 60 days’ notice. Use the form your policy requires, often a raccomandata A/R or PEC. Stopping the direct debit does not cancel the policy.

This guide is for consumers ending insurance policies in Italy. A disdetta stops renewal at expiry; withdrawal (recesso) ends a policy earlier where the law or the policy allows. Check your policy (polizza) and its terms (condizioni di assicurazione) first. For phone, internet and gym contracts, see our guide to cancelling a contract in Italy. For complaints to the insurer or to IVASS, the insurance supervisor, see our guide to formal complaints in Italy.

Car insurance: no disdetta at expiry

Under art. 170-bis Codice delle assicurazioni private, RC auto ends automatically at expiry and cannot renew tacitly. The insurer must remind you at least 30 days before expiry and keep the old cover until a new policy takes effect, for at most 15 days after expiry. Since 29 August 2017, this also applies to accessory cover, such as theft or fire, in the same contract or one concluded at the same time; for older accessory contracts, IVASS advises sending a disdetta within the contractual deadline.

If you sell the vehicle, art. 171 lets you choose, irrevocably, to end the contract with a refund for the remaining period (net of taxes and the health service contribution), assign it to the buyer, or move it to another vehicle you own. While you do not use a vehicle, you can suspend the cover (sospensione) for up to ten months per policy year; it starts only once the insurer records it (art. 122-bis). For scrapping, theft or export, check the policy terms.

Home, liability and other policies: send a disdetta in time

Find the expiry date (scadenza), the renewal clause and the notice period in the policy terms. Each tacit renewal lasts at most two years (art. 1899 c.c.). IVASS says the notice is usually 30 or 60 days and that a disdetta can go by raccomandata A/R (registered letter with return receipt), by PEC (posta elettronica certificata, certified email) or, if the contract allows, through the insurer’s app or website. Arrange new cover first.

Multi-year policies (polizze poliennali) concluded after 15 August 2009 must carry a premium discount. If one runs for more than five years, you can withdraw after five years with 60 days’ notice, effective at the end of that policy year (art. 1899 c.c.). Older contracts and life policies follow other rules.

Replace every placeholder and add both addresses and the date. The fallback “o, in subordine, dalla prima scadenza utile” applies the disdetta to the next permitted expiry if you miss the deadline; it does not end the policy sooner.

Oggetto: Disdetta della polizza n. [numero polizza]

Spett.le [Compagnia assicurativa],

con la presente io sottoscritto/a [nome e cognome], contraente della polizza [tipo di copertura] n. [numero polizza], Vi comunico la disdetta del contratto con effetto dalla scadenza del [data di scadenza], o, in subordine, dalla prima scadenza utile secondo le condizioni di assicurazione, al fine di impedirne il tacito rinnovo.

Vi chiedo di confermarmi per iscritto la ricezione della presente e la data di cessazione della copertura.

Distinti saluti [Nome e cognome] [Indirizzo]

Changing your mind about a new policy

You can withdraw from an individual life policy within 30 days of being told it is concluded; the insurer refunds the premium within 30 days, less the period already covered and any issuing costs stated in the proposal and contract (art. 177 Codice delle assicurazioni). For policies concluded at a distance, the Codice del consumo gives 14 days from conclusion, or from receiving the terms if later (art. 59-octies for contracts from 19 June 2026; art. 67-duodecies before); travel and baggage policies under one month are excluded.

A policy proposed by your lender with a mortgage or loan can be withdrawn within 60 days, and the loan stays valid. A lender that requires insurance must accept equivalent cover you find yourself, without changing the loan terms (art. 28 D.L. 1/2012).

Mortgage and loan policies: refund after early repayment

If you paid a single premium (premio unico) for a policy linked to a mortgage or loan and repay the loan early or transfer it, the insurer must refund the premium for the remaining period (art. 22, comma 15-quater, D.L. 179/2012). This includes partial repayment; the insurer may deduct administrative costs actually incurred if the policy documents state them (art. 39 Regolamento IVASS n. 41/2018). You can instead ask for the cover to continue for a new beneficiary. If a refund that is due does not arrive, see our guide to payment demands in Italy.

Oggetto: Richiesta di rimborso del premio non goduto — polizza n. [numero polizza]

Spett.le [Compagnia assicurativa],

sono assicurato/a con la polizza n. [numero polizza], connessa al [mutuo/finanziamento] n. [numero contratto] stipulato con [banca o finanziatore], per la quale ho corrisposto un premio unico di [importo] euro.

In data [data] il [mutuo/finanziamento] è stato [estinto anticipatamente, in tutto o in parte/trasferito], come risulta dalla documentazione allegata.

Ai sensi dell’art. 22, comma 15-quater, del D.L. 179/2012, Vi chiedo di rimborsarmi la parte di premio relativa al periodo residuo mediante bonifico sul conto intestato a [intestatario], IBAN [IBAN], e di fornirmi il dettaglio del calcolo e delle eventuali spese trattenute.

Distinti saluti [Nome e cognome] [Indirizzo]

Premium increases, claims and stopping payments

A higher RC auto renewal quote needs no letter: the old policy ends anyway. For other policies, leaving mid-term after a premium increase or a claim depends on the policy terms. IVASS rules bar health (malattia) policies from including a right to cancel after a claim (art. 38 Regolamento IVASS n. 41/2018). Revoking the SEPA direct debit does not cancel a policy: under art. 1901 c.c., an unpaid non-life premium suspends cover from the 15th day after its due date, and the premium for the current period can still be claimed.

Post your letter and keep evidence

If you prefer post, upload your final PDF or write the letter in MaisonMail. Use the address in your policy terms or on the insurer’s website, not a general address you have not checked. The recipient address determines the destination; available services, estimated delivery and the final price appear before payment. A postal disdetta counts when it reaches the insurer (art. 1335 c.c.), not when you send it, so allow time for printing and delivery. If your policy requires a raccomandata A/R or PEC, use one of those: a standard or tracked letter is not a raccomandata A/R. Keep a copy of the exact letter. Tracking shows that an item arrived, not what the envelope contained.