Upheld: Home insurance claim disputes complaint against FORTEGRA INSURANCE UK LTD.

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H claimed under a furniture warranty for sofa repairs. During the repair visit, Fortegra's technician dragged the sofa back to its original position without assistance, causing deep scratches to Mr H's wooden floor. Fortegra denied responsibility, claiming the floor was protected and Mr H had signed a no-damage confirmation. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding on the balance of probabilities that the technician caused the damage through improper handling, and ordered Fortegra to reimburse Mr H's floor repair costs.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

On the balance of probabilities, the ombudsman found that Fortegra's technician likely caused the damage. The evidence showed the sofa was dragged back without assistance after repair, the sheeting used was too thin to prevent damage, and the scratches showed movement in multiple directions consistent with dragging. Although Mr H signed a no-damage card, he notified Fortegra within an hour, suggesting he may not have immediately noticed the damage. The technician's photos were too small to reliably show the absence of damage at the time of departure.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website