Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Clegg Gifford & Co Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Ms G complained to the FOS about her insurance broker CG regarding how they provided documentation from a third party insurer M in connection with her claim. Ms G alleged that CG withheld original documentation, provided an empty PDF file, and sent a password that triggered a virus warning, suggesting CG was acting with M to harm her claim. CG stated they had requested originals from M but could only provide copies, that their Compliance Team successfully accessed the document without virus warnings, and that password protection is standard practice for sensitive information. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding that CG acted fairly and reasonably in providing password-protected documentation and that the virus warning was a technical issue unrelated to CG's conduct.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that CG acted reasonably by requesting original documents from M and providing copies when originals could not be located. Password protection of sensitive personal information is standard practice and appropriate. The virus warning was likely generated by anti-virus software unable to scan the password-protected document, not evidence of an actual virus. CG's offer of assistance was reasonable and there were no grounds to believe CG was acting with M to harm Ms G's claim.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website