Not upheld: Other regulated complaint complaint against Xbridge Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr and Mrs S complained that Xbridge Limited, an insurance broker trading as Simply Business, unfairly made a mid-term adjustment to their commercial property insurance policy to account for a claim known to the underlying insurer before the policy started, and that Xbridge received additional commission on the increased premium. The ombudsman found that Xbridge acted appropriately in contacting the Insurer when the omission was discovered and was entitled to charge commission on the revised premium in line with its disclosed terms of business. The ombudsman determined that any complaint about how the policy was amended or the price charged should be directed to the underlying Insurer, as Xbridge acted on the Insurer's behalf. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Xbridge acted appropriately by processing the original renewal based on available information and then contacting the Insurer when a potential claim was discovered to have been omitted. The ombudsman considered it fair that Xbridge earned commission on the revised premium in line with its disclosed terms of business, which explicitly stated commission is calculated as a percentage of the insurance premium. The ombudsman noted that any complaint about how the policy was amended or the price charged should be directed to the Insurer, as Xbridge acted on the Insurer's behalf.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website