Not upheld: Home insurance claim disputes complaint against Liverpool Victoria Insurance Company Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr and Mrs P complained about Liverpool Victoria Insurance Company Limited's handling of a subsidence claim on their buildings insurance policy. The claim was accepted in 2014 and repair works were completed by 2018. From 2019 to 2024, Mr P reported further cracks and LV arranged inspections and repairs, but concluded these were not caused by subsidence or other insured perils. The ombudsman found that LV had fulfilled its contractual obligation to carry out a lasting and effective repair by December 2018, and that expert evidence confirmed no ongoing subsidence movement. LV went beyond its obligations in arranging further repairs from 2019 onwards. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that LV had fulfilled its contractual obligation to carry out a lasting and effective repair of the insured subsidence damage by December 2018. The expert evidence and monitoring data from 2019 onwards demonstrated no ongoing subsidence movement, and the crack damage reported during this period was caused by thermal movement or other non-insured causes. Therefore, LV went beyond its contractual obligations in arranging further repairs and inspections from 2019 onwards, and acted fairly in doing so. The complaint could not be upheld as LV had not handled the claim unfairly.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website