Not upheld: repair method (use of unbranded parts) and service quality (courier delivery failure) complaint against Assurant General Insurance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S complained about Assurant's use of unbranded parts to repair his damaged mobile phone and the failure of the courier to deliver it properly. Assurant accepted the claim and repaired the phone, but the courier left it in a shop instead of delivering it to Mr S's home. When Mr S received the phone, it was not working properly. Assurant offered to examine the phone under its repair warranty to identify the issue, but Mr S refused to return it. The ombudsman found that the policy terms explicitly permitted unbranded parts and that Assurant's request for the phone to be returned for inspection was reasonable and fair. The ombudsman upheld the £25 compensation for the courier error but did not uphold the complaint overall.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the policy terms explicitly permitted Assurant to use unbranded parts, which is common industry practice and within the insurer's commercial discretion. While something clearly went wrong with the repair, Assurant could not determine what the issue was without examining the phone again. It was reasonable and fair for Assurant to require the phone to be returned for inspection before deciding whether to repair it further or provide a replacement. The ombudsman could not hold Assurant responsible for Mr S not having a working phone since the delay was caused by Mr S's refusal to return the phone, not by Assurant's inaction. The £25 compensation for the courier's delivery error was deemed adequate.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website