Martin Lewis has a well-documented set of rules for getting a better insurance deal, all of them said about car and home insurance. Here's each rule, honestly checked against whether it actually holds for a business policy.
These aren't rules he's ever said specifically about business insurance, and we're not pretending otherwise. But the underlying market mechanics that make his advice work for personal insurance largely apply to business cover too, with a couple of genuine exceptions worth knowing before you assume they transfer directly.
On his BBC Radio 5 Live podcast, Lewis said allowing insurance to auto-renew is "never the right thing to do," urging people to shop around instead.
For business insurance, this holds just as strongly, arguably more so. Business insurers often reprice based on your claims history and sector risk trends over the year, and loyalty rarely earns a discount. Shopping your renewal is standard practice for public liability, van insurance, and most commercial lines.
Holds upLewis has said the "perfect" time to search for quotes is around 23 days before your renewal date, based on analysis of over a million quotes.
The exact 23-day figure comes from personal car insurance pricing data specifically, business insurance pricing doesn't follow identical patterns, since it's priced on different risk factors (trade type, claims history, turnover). The broader principle, don't wait until the last minute, still applies, but treat "23 days" as a car insurance specific finding rather than a universal rule.
Principle holds, exact timing doesn't transfer directlyLewis has pointed out that "comparison sites are actually marketplaces in their own right these days under the regulations," and advised checking multiple sites rather than relying on just one.
This holds for business insurance too, but with a practical difference: mainstream comparison sites are built for personal lines, and coverage for commercial and corporate insurance is patchier. For SME cover like public liability or van insurance, comparison works well. For anything beyond that, a broker who can access the wider commercial market usually finds better terms than a comparison site alone.
Holds up, with the right kind of comparisonLewis has said that if you're happy with your current insurer, you should still haggle, claiming "success rates are over 70%" for people who try.
This genuinely applies to business insurance as well. Insurers would rather retain an existing policyholder at a slightly reduced price than lose them entirely, and business insurance renewal notices are rarely the insurer's best possible offer.
Holds upThe honest summary: Three of Lewis's four core rules apply directly to business insurance. The one exception, the specific 23-day timing, is a personal car insurance finding, not a universal law, though the broader "don't leave it too late" principle still stands.
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See My Cover Options →This article references Martin Lewis's publicly reported comments on car and home insurance renewal, made on his BBC Radio 5 Live podcast and ITV programmes, and applies that logic to business insurance for context. CoverMatch is not affiliated with, and this article is not endorsed by, Martin Lewis or MoneySavingExpert.com.