Fifteen days. That's how long you have to pay an overdue insurance premium in order to avoid having a claim rejected. Policyholder protection rules oblige insurers to give their policyholders a 15-day grace period between an unpaid debit order and the lapsing of the policy or the rejection of a claim. But does that mean a policy lapses on the 15th or the 16th day? That was the question posed by King Price client "Mr M", as reported in the ombudsman for short-term insurance's latest "Briefcase" newsletter. That interpretation proved to be the difference between his claim being accepted or rejected after he was involved in a car crash on October 8 last year. His premium was due on October 4, four days before the accident, but the debit order was returned unpaid. A second debit order was submitted 15 days later, on October 19, which also failed, with the result that Mr M's claim relating to the crash was rejected. In his subsequent complaint to the ombudsman, Mr M argued that he'd only...
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