Not upheld: claims handling - third party liability claim settlement complaint against Ageas Insurance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Miss C complained that Ageas mishandled a motor insurance claim after a third party alleged her car hit their parked vehicle on 5 March 2025. Miss C denied involvement and provided evidence of prior damage and her work location at the time. Ageas obtained an engineer's report finding the damage consistent with the incident and decided to settle the third party's claim on a without prejudice basis without accepting liability. The ombudsman found Ageas acted reasonably within its contractual rights, did not draw adverse inferences from the third party's actions or reporting delay, and reasonably relied on the engineer's assessment. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Ageas acted within its contractual rights under the policy terms to take over and conduct claim settlement. The ombudsman did not draw adverse inferences from the third party's failure to leave a note or the ten-day reporting delay, as these were considered usual in motor insurance claims. While acknowledging the lack of CCTV, witness statements, or conclusive evidence of causation, the ombudsman found it reasonable for Ageas to rely on the engineer's assessment that the damage was consistent with the incident circumstances and to decide that settling on a without prejudice basis was a reasonable commercial decision to avoid court proceedings. The ombudsman noted that Miss C's evidence of prior damage and her work login did not undermine Ageas' position, and that Ageas had reviewed its decision in response to this evidence.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website