21 December 2006
People who choose to purchase cheap insurance deals have been advised to read the small print.
Upon making the statement, the British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba) also noted that cheaper insurance packages often have tighter notification periods.
Biba gave the warning following its research which showed that British insurers pay out billions of pounds a year to people who have suffered accidents or injuries.
The association noted that many insurance companies will stipulate that a claim cannot be made after a certain amount of time has elapsed.
Graeme Trudgill, technical services manager at Biba, cited the Limitations Act, which details that the length of time people are able to wait to make a claim following an injury is three years.
"As far as contracts go, they are different from actual statutes and it might be the case that in your motor insurance policy your insurer might say that you have to notify them as soon as reasonably possible or even within six months," Mr Trudgill continued.
"Sometimes the cheap and cheerful policies are a little bit more restrictive on notification periods and things like that, so always be careful when you buy and read the small print."
Insurance comparison site Insurancewide recently noted that people are not sufficiently protecting their income against personal illness or injury.
