Not upheld: claim handling, liability decision, procedural failures in communication complaint against Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr T complained that Admiral Insurance settled a third party motor insurance claim against him without giving him an opportunity to defend it, resulting in his No Claims Bonus being reduced from two to zero years. Admiral admitted procedural failures including failing to explain that the other driver's claim was still being dealt with and failing to notify Mr T of the settlement. However, the ombudsman found that Admiral reasonably investigated the claim and had no evidence to show the other driver was at fault, meaning the outcome would not have changed even with proper notification. The ombudsman upheld Admiral's liability decision as consistent with policy terms and found the £150 compensation already paid for the procedural failures to be fair and reasonable, declining to award the £1,800 Mr T sought.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Admiral made procedural errors in communication, these errors did not affect the outcome. Admiral was entitled under the policy terms to settle the claim as it saw fit. The ombudsman was satisfied that Admiral reasonably investigated the claim and decided liability in keeping with policy terms. Crucially, Admiral had no evidence to show the other driver was at fault, so it could not have defended the claim even if it had properly notified Mr T. Therefore, Mr T's No Claims Bonus reduction was correctly applied under the policy terms, and the procedural failures did not cause the loss of the bonus or affect his position. The £150 compensation already paid was fair and reasonable for the trouble and upset caused by learning late of the settlement.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website