Not upheld: Account administration errors complaint against Health Shield Friendly Society Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Ms D complained that Health Shield Friendly Society Limited collected premiums on a health cash plan after she requested cancellation. Ms D claimed she sent a cancellation letter in May 2018 (before signing the application on 29 May 2018), but Health Shield stated it never received such a letter and did not process the application until January 2019 due to delays obtaining her payroll number. Health Shield sent multiple notifications in 2019, which Ms D claimed not to receive. Ms D discovered the deductions in December 2019 and the plan was cancelled in January 2020. The ombudsman found no credible evidence of a timely cancellation request, determined Health Shield had taken sufficient steps to notify Ms D, and concluded only the February 2020 payment collected after cancellation should be refunded.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the balance of probabilities standard to resolve the dispute about whether Ms D sent a cancellation letter in May 2018. Finding no corroborating evidence and noting the date inconsistency (letter allegedly sent before application signed), the ombudsman concluded Ms D likely made a mistake about the date. The ombudsman found Health Shield's explanation for the processing delay reasonable and determined that Health Shield had taken sufficient steps to notify Ms D by sending correspondence to the correct address. The ombudsman found it reasonable that Health Shield did not contact the employer or retry phone calls, and placed responsibility on Ms D to monitor her salary deductions. Only the February 2020 payment collected after cancellation was found to be in error.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website