By Laura Carpenter


Concerns have been raised over whether insurers are operating unfair time lapse policies, which refuse to pay customers' claims if they are submitted following a delay.

According to reports, many insurance companies stipulate that a claim cannot be made after a certain amount of time has elapsed, causing problems for people who either believed that they would always be covered as they held a policy at the time of the incident, or those who did not realise until too late that it was possible for them to make a claim for an issue such as personal injury.

One such insurance company, the Co-operative Bank, has said that its own policy holders are not set a time limit for when they can make a claim, although suspicions may be aroused if the lapse seems unusual.

"For our own policy holders we don't actually set a time," said Andy Hammerton, a spokesperson for Co-operative Bank. "We would accept a reasonable time – for instance we would expect people not to wait two years if they had some slates that were damaged on their roof.

"If it's a third party trying to make a claim we do actually set a time, so personal injury is three years and property damage is six years," he continued.

"We do get occasional cases of people who've left it for a long period of time, but on the whole it's certainly not a problem that we've had."

A spokesperson from insurers Royal & Sun Alliance agreed that on the whole, delays are not a major problem for the industry. Although there is a limit set for making claims, there is a good reason for this, said Royal & Sun Alliance's Alison Last.

"The normal limit is three years from the date of the accident – this is governed by the Statute of Limitation," said Ms Last. "There are exceptions, however, such as people under 18-years-old and accidents that do not have any symptoms until years later."

An increase in awareness as far as insurance goes has led to a decrease in the number of delayed claims, according to Ms Last. "With regards to motor claims the proportion of people waiting too long to claim is now very small – it is now widely known that claims for personal injury can be made," she said.

As Christmas time approaches, insurers have also been keen to warn the general public that the best way to avoid the need to make a claim against your insurance is to take extra care.

Many people will find that their home insurer automatically increases the value of their cover over the festive season, in order to accommodate the additional replacement cost of Christmas presents stored in the home.

However, the risks of accidents, such as fire, greatly increases at this time of year and householders are advised to take care with electrical decorations and candles in particular.