Not upheld: claim declined - contract not completed in full complaint against Acasta European Insurance Company Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr G purchased solar panels with a warranty underwritten by Acasta that would activate if the installer went into liquidation. After experiencing installation issues in late 2022, the installer agreed to reduce the final invoice in January 2023, which Mr G paid. When the system developed a fault in late 2024 and the installer had gone into liquidation, Mr G claimed on the warranty. Acasta declined the claim, stating the warranty was never registered because the contract was not completed in full. The ombudsman upheld Acasta's decision, finding that Mr G's January 2023 letter documented system connectivity issues and the price reduction occurred shortly thereafter, suggesting the contract work was incomplete at the time of final payment, with no evidence provided that issues were subsequently resolved.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the warranty policy terms clearly state no cover applies where the contract has not been completed in full and evidence of full payment must be provided. Given that Mr G's January 2023 letter documented system connectivity issues and the installer agreed to reduce the price just days later, it was reasonable to infer the contract work was incomplete at the time of final payment. There was no evidence provided that all system issues were resolved before the final invoice was paid on 23 January 2023. Therefore, Acasta could fairly conclude the contract was not completed in full, the warranty was never properly registered, and no cover applied to the subsequent fault discovered in late 2024.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website