Not upheld: Account administration errors complaint against AutoProtect (MBI) Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B complained that AutoProtect refused to change his GAP insurance policy payment date from the 1st to the 11th of each month, leading to late payments, and that they sent threatening emails with inaccurate information before issuing a pro-rata rather than full refund upon cancellation. AutoProtect explained their automated system applied the same payment date to all policyholders and that the policy terms clearly specified the 1st of the month for payments. While AutoProtect acknowledged an error in one email that incorrectly referenced December dates instead of January dates, the ombudsman found this caused only initial confusion as Mr B quickly identified the error and no proceedings were actually issued. The ombudsman upheld AutoProtect's position that the pro-rata refund was correct under the policy terms since Mr B cancelled outside the 30-day cooling-off period after receiving 136 days of cover.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that AutoProtect clearly communicated the fixed payment date of the 1st of each month in multiple documents before Mr B took out the policy. The automated system applied equally to all policyholders, so Mr B was not treated differently. While AutoProtect made a factual error in referencing December dates instead of January dates in the 25 January email, this caused only initial confusion as Mr B quickly identified the error, and no actual proceedings were issued. The pro-rata refund was in accordance with the policy terms, which Mr B had the benefit of cover for 136 days before cancelling outside the cooling-off period.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website