Not upheld: claims handling and validation complaint against Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B claimed for two televisions damaged by his son and complained about how Admiral handled the claims. Admiral requested additional information including testimony from Mr B's wife and evidence of a weekend trip to validate the claims, which Mr B refused to provide. Admiral acknowledged service failings and paid £250 compensation. The ombudsman found Admiral's information requests were reasonable and that Mr B bore the onus of proving an insured event occurred, so the complaint was not upheld and no additional remedy was ordered.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that it is the customer's responsibility to demonstrate an insured event has occurred. Admiral's requests for corroborating testimony from Mr B's wife and evidence of the weekend trip were reasonable given the unusual circumstances of two older televisions being damaged in quick succession shortly after policy inception. While Admiral acknowledged service failings in their communication and conduct, these did not justify overriding the reasonable requirement for Mr B to provide validating information. The £250 compensation appropriately addressed the distress and inconvenience caused by the service failings.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website