Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Ripe Insurance Services Limited
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-5616913 of 2025-09-02T00:00:00+00:00. Service failures generally complaint against Ripe Insurance Services Limited. Outcome: Not upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-5616913 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2025-09-02T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | Ripe Insurance Services Limited |
| Product | Other regulated product |
| Claim type | Service failures generally |
| Outcome | Not upheld |
| Remedy | Ripe Insurance Services Limited to pay Mr M £100 compensation for distress and inconvenience caused by poor call handling, if not already paid. |
Summary
Mr M complained that Ripe Insurance Services Limited misled him by providing a campervan insurance quote when he was under 25, causing him to lose a £500 non-refundable campervan deposit when his application was subsequently declined. Ripe acknowledged a system error had generated the quote but maintained it does not insure anyone under 25 due to underwriter criteria, and had previously informed Mr M of this restriction. The ombudsman found that a price comparison website quote does not constitute a guarantee of cover or a binding contract, and that Ripe would have declined Mr M's application at underwriting regardless. While upholding the complaint regarding poor call handling, the ombudsman found Ripe's offer of £100 compensation to be fair and reasonable and declined to require reimbursement of the campervan deposit.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The ombudsman found that a quote from a price comparison website does not constitute a guarantee of cover or a binding contract. The sales journey was incomplete when the quote was provided, and Ripe would have declined Mr M's application at the underwriting stage due to his age, which was consistently applied policy. While Ripe's system error resulted in an inappropriate quote being generated, this did not create a reasonable expectation that Mr M would be approved for cover. The ombudsman could not hold Ripe responsible for Mr M's decision to pay a campervan deposit based on an incomplete quote. However, the ombudsman upheld that poor call handling occurred and found Ripe's offer of £100 compensation to be fair and reasonable for the distress and inconvenience caused.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| Ripe Insurance Services Limited, all decisions | 4 | 0% |
| Service failures generally, all decisions | 32,767 | 33% |
| Other regulated product, all decisions | 51,105 | 30% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website