A Judgment of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court, dated 09/12/2016, established the criterion on the limitation period for the claim of unpaid insurance premiums. This sentence clarifies the period that insurance companies have to claim against the insured for the non-payment of premiums.
What is the deadline for companies to claim the non-payment of the insurance premium?
Until now, the courts of first instance were applying article 15.2 of the Insurance Contract Law, which established a period of six months as the term to claim for non-payment of premiums. However, this sentence comes to interpret that this period is to avoid the legal effect of the termination of the insurance contract and is not an expiration period whose course prevents the claim of unpaid premiums.
Consequently, this sentence determines that it is article 23 of the Insurance Contract Law that establishes the limitation period for actions arising from the insurance contract, in this case, the action of the claim companies for non-payment of premiums. These deadlines are:
- Damage insurance: 2 years
- Personal insurance: 5 years
How to avoid possible insurance claims?
We advise communicate in writing to the insurer any intention to cancel our insurance, with a minimum margin of one month before expiration.