Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Domestic & General Insurance Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs W complained to the FOS about three appliance insurance policies with D&G, claiming she never agreed to the fridge freezer policy and did not receive adequate notification of renewals or price increases. The ombudsman found that D&G did not sell the fridge freezer policy, so it bore no responsibility for that complaint. For the tumble dryer and television policies, the ombudsman reviewed call recordings confirming Mrs W agreed to email communication and found D&G sent renewal notifications including price information to her agreed email address. The complaint was not upheld as D&G acted fairly and provided accessible, adequate renewal information as agreed.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that D&G did not sell the fridge freezer policy, so D&G cannot be held responsible for its sale. For the tumble dryer and television policies, Mrs W explicitly agreed to receive communications via email during telephone calls with D&G. D&G provided adequate and accessible renewal notifications to the agreed email address, including price increase information. The ombudsman noted that renewal documents are typically sent one month before renewal, giving policyholders opportunity to review and decide whether to continue. Mrs W did not inform D&G of any changes to her email address or specific accessibility requirements beyond her stated preference for email communication.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website