Not upheld: unfair claim decline - buildings insurance complaint against Aviva Insurance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr and Mrs S claimed on their buildings insurance with Aviva for £5,200 in repairs to their garden drainage system following flooding in May 2025. The drainage system had been incorrectly installed by previous owners and was defective. Aviva declined the claim, stating the damage was not caused by an insured peril and that faulty installation was specifically excluded from cover. The ombudsman upheld Aviva's decision, finding that the drainage specialist's report confirmed the damage resulted from longstanding poor workmanship rather than a sudden external event, and that the policy required an identifiable insured event to trigger cover.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that insurance policies only cover agreed risks listed in the terms. The policy required damage to be caused by a specified insured peril (such as Fire, Storm, Theft, or Subsidence) or, for drainage, by accidental damage defined as sudden and unexpected damage from an identifiable outside force. The drainage specialist's report established the damage resulted from longstanding faulty installation and poor workmanship, not a sudden external event. Even if an insured event had occurred, the policy explicitly excluded damage due to faulty workmanship or design. Therefore, Aviva's decline was reasonable and not unfair.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website