Cancellation Process

Coverage Gap Risks

When you cancel your insurance, your coverage ends. Any incidents occurring after cancellation will not be covered, leaving you financially responsible for losses, damages, medical expenses, or liability claims. Before cancelling, ensure you have replacement coverage in place if you still need protection.

For certain insurance types, coverage gaps can have lasting consequences:

• Auto insurance — Driving without valid insurance is illegal in Japan. A gap in coverage also affects your insurance history and may result in higher premiums when you next purchase coverage.
• Health and life insurance — Cancelling and later reapplying means going through underwriting again. If your health has changed, you may face higher premiums, coverage exclusions, or even denial of coverage.
• Property insurance — Your home and belongings are unprotected during any gap period. Mortgage lenders typically require continuous coverage.

Alternatives to Cancellation

Depending on your situation, alternatives to cancellation may better serve your needs:

• Reduce coverage — If premiums are the concern, reducing coverage amounts or removing optional riders may lower your costs while maintaining essential protection.
• Change payment frequency — Switching to monthly payments spreads costs more evenly if a large periodic payment is difficult.
• Suspend or pause coverage — Some policies allow temporary suspension for specific situations, though this is not available for all policy types.
• Policy loan — For policies with cash value like NICE Lifetime Protect, you may be able to borrow against the cash value rather than cancelling.
• Let it lapse naturally — If your policy is near its expiration date, you may prefer to simply disable auto-renewal and let the policy expire rather than actively cancelling.

Understand What You Are Giving Up

Review what coverage and benefits you will lose upon cancellation. For life and health insurance policies you have held for many years, you may be giving up coverage at rates that are no longer available to you based on your current age and health. For policies with cash value, understand how cancellation affects that accumulated value.

Cooling-Off Period Terms

To exercise your cooling-off rights, you must notify NICE Insurance in writing within the cooling-off period. Your notification should include your name, policy number, and clear statement that you are cancelling under cooling-off provisions. No reason needs to be provided, and NICE Insurance cannot refuse a valid cooling-off cancellation.

Standard Cancellation Documents

Acceptable Identification

NICE Insurance accepts the following forms of identification for cancellation processing:

• Driver's licence (運転免許証)
• My Number card (マイナンバーカード) — front side only
• Passport (パスポート)
• Basic Resident Registration card (住民基本台帳カード) with photo
• Health insurance card (健康保険証) — may require additional documentation
• Pension book (年金手帳) — may require additional documentation

If you cannot locate your policy certificate, contact NICE Insurance before submitting your cancellation request. You may need to complete a lost certificate declaration or follow alternative procedures.

Branch Cancellation

Visiting a NICE Insurance branch allows you to complete the cancellation process in person with staff assistance:

1. Gather your required documents including policy certificate, identification, and registered seal.
2. Visit your nearest NICE Insurance branch during business hours.
3. Inform the staff that you wish to cancel your policy.
4. Complete the cancellation request form with staff assistance.
5. Provide your documents for verification.
6. Receive confirmation of your cancellation request and information about the effective date and any refund.

Branch cancellation is recommended for complex policies, when you have questions about the process, or when you want immediate confirmation that your request has been submitted correctly.

Mail Cancellation

You can submit your cancellation request by mail:

1. Download the cancellation request form from the NICE Insurance website or request one from customer service.
2. Complete the form fully, including your policy number, name, address, reason for cancellation (optional), and requested cancellation date.
3. Sign the form and affix your registered seal if applicable.
4. Make copies of your identification documents.
5. If required, include your original policy certificate.
6. Send all documents to the NICE Insurance address specified on the form via registered mail for tracking.
7. NICE Insurance will process your request and send confirmation.

Allow 7 to 14 business days for mail cancellations to be processed. Your cancellation effective date depends on when NICE Insurance receives your completed request.

Online Cancellation

For certain policy types, cancellation can be initiated through your NICE Insurance online account:

1. Log in to your NICE Insurance online account.
2. Navigate to the Policies section and select the policy you wish to cancel.
3. Look for a Cancel Policy or Request Cancellation option.
4. Follow the online prompts to submit your cancellation request.
5. You may need to upload copies of identification documents.
6. Confirm your request and note any reference number provided.

Online cancellation may not be available for all policy types. Life insurance and policies with complex terms typically require branch or mail cancellation with original documents.

Standard Processing Times

You can request a specific future cancellation date if you want coverage to continue until a certain point, such as when replacement coverage begins. However, you cannot backdate a cancellation to a date before your request is submitted.

Refund Calculation Factors

• Premium payment frequency — Refunds are more common when you have paid annually or semi-annually. Monthly payers may have little or no refund since premiums are collected as coverage is provided.
• Time remaining in policy period — The more time remaining on your prepaid coverage, the larger the potential refund.
• Policy type — Different policies have different refund calculation methods.
• Cancellation fees — Some policies have administrative fees that reduce the refund amount.
• Claims history — For some policy types, claims paid during the policy period may affect refund eligibility.

Refund by Policy Type

Refund Payment

If you are entitled to a refund, NICE Insurance will process payment to your designated bank account within 14 to 30 business days of cancellation processing. You will receive confirmation of the refund amount and expected payment date.