Upheld: Home insurance claim disputes complaint against DAVIES MGA SERVICES LIMITED
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-5103250 of 2024-10-24T00:00:00+00:00. Home insurance claim disputes complaint against DAVIES MGA SERVICES LIMITED. Outcome: Upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-5103250 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2024-10-24T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | DAVIES MGA SERVICES LIMITED |
| Product | Other regulated product |
| Claim type | Home insurance claim disputes |
| Outcome | Upheld |
| Remedy | Davies MGA Services Limited must pay Mr K: (1) £500 to cover the policy excess; (2) 8% simple annual interest on £500 from the date of the claim to the date of payment; (3) £100 compensation for stress and inconvenience caused during an already difficult time. |
Summary
Mr K claimed on his excess protection policy following a serious accident in August 2023. He contacted Davies MGA Services Limited on 1 September 2023 after struggling to submit his claim online, and received confirmation his claim had been successfully logged. Davies requested supporting documents but did not discover until 28 September 2023 that they no longer handled excess protection claims for his insurer, only informing Mr K on 3 October 2023. By then, Mr K had missed the policy's strict 30-day claim submission deadline, and his subsequent claim to the correct provider was declined. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding Davies should have known immediately they could not process the claim and should have directed Mr K to the correct provider promptly, allowing him to submit within the deadline. Davies was ordered to pay £500 for the excess, interest at 8% per annum, and £100 compensation.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
Davies should have been aware of which insurers they could process claims for and should have notified Mr K immediately upon contact that they could not deal with his excess protection policy claim, rather than logging it and requesting documents. By confirming the claim was logged on 1 September 2023, Davies created a reasonable expectation that the claim was being handled. The delay in informing Mr K until 3 October 2023 meant he could not submit the claim to the correct provider within the mandatory 30-day deadline. Had Davies provided prompt notification, Mr K would have had sufficient time to submit the claim and there is no evidence it would have been declined.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| DAVIES MGA SERVICES LIMITED, all decisions | 6 | 50% |
| Home insurance claim disputes, all decisions | 25,340 | 38% |
| Other regulated product, all decisions | 51,105 | 30% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website