yeah - as huggy said, that is to protect you - usually, you ring up for cover, they go through a policy with you, then you accept verbally over the phone, set up banking details and then your coverage starts immediately, so you could drive the car home from the car yard or wherever. Then they would usually forward you a copy of the PDS via mail, which gives you an oppertunity to read all the fine print. Once you have done this, you can make a decision to change the policy if it is not right for you, or say nothing, and carry on, which is what most people do, then when it comes time to actually claim, they work out that the event is not covered in the PDS, or the item is not covered, then have a cry at the insurance company for not telling them, when it's clearly, all there in writing...

I have a wife who is an insurance consultant... this is the way 80+% of claims go