A window cleaner who was left paralysed after plunging 30ft at work has been told he was not insured to climb ladders.

Despite shelling out £310 a year on insurance, 28-year-old Ricky Perrin has been left devastated after being told he was not covered for the injury, which has left him wheelchair-bound for life.

Doctors told the dad of two he would never walk again after he broke his back when he fell three storeys from a window ledge as he washed windows at a nursing home last November.

Mr Perrin, who set up the business in Hove last year, said: "I took out the insurance policy precisely because I wanted to protect my family if I had an accident at work.

"I paid £26 a month for a policy just before my son was born last year because I wanted to make sure my loved ones were taken care of should the worst happen."

But when Mr Perrin contacted Icon Insurance - a company which prides itself on insuring small businesses - to discuss his claim he was told he was not covered for the fall and would not be getting a penny.

He said: "They have pretty much told me I was not insured to climb ladders. If that is the case why did they sell me the policy when they knew the job I did?

"They told me I had taken out a policy that covered employees and that I wasn't covered as it was my own business.

"They are just trying to worm out of paying up or they sold me the wrong policy in the first place.

"If that is the case, that is totally unacceptable. I told them I worked on my own and had no other employees so why sell me a policy that only covered employees?

"I am the employer and the employee. The policy was for me and they know that."

Mr Perrin was paying £310 a year, which covered him for public, private and employer's liability. He was earning £20,000 a year until the accident.

Mr Perrin said: "I chose them because they advertise themselves as specialising in small businesses like mine. But I'm now living to regret it. They have misled me and totally let me down."

Ricky has been forced to live in a hotel while he waits for the council to find suitable accommodation for him and his partner Sharon Banks, 33, and his sons River, seven months, and Connor, nine.

He said: "I've been told I may have to wait up to two years before the council finds somewhere adapted for my wheelchair, but if I had received the insurance money I would be able to sort it out myself."

The invoice he received from Icon Insurance when he took out the policy on September 16, 2006, states he could receive anything up to £10 million for employer's liability.

But Mr Perrin said: "I wouldn't even expect that much, just enough to be able to buy my own home as I'm now totally dependent on the Government and local housing association."

He is now awaiting legal advice from his solicitor, who has told him if he was mis-sold a policy he has a valid claim against the insurance company.

A spokesman for Icon Insurance said: "We do not discuss individual cases."