Upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Casualty and General Insurance Company (Europe) Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr W complained that CGI wrongly renewed his pet insurance policy after he requested cancellation by email on 24 July 2025. CGI did not receive the first email but subsequently received a second email and cancelled the policy on 21 August 2025, refunding the £20.29 premium. CGI's policy terms required cancellation by phone rather than email. The ombudsman upheld the complaint only for compensation purposes, finding that CGI's £75 offer was reasonable given that Mr W did not follow the stated cancellation procedure and the matter was resolved within six days. The ombudsman rejected Mr W's argument that the complaint process itself caused additional inconvenience, as complaint handling falls outside FCA jurisdiction.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that CGI's auto-renewal practice was reasonable for a lifetime pet insurance policy. The policy terms clearly required cancellation by phone, which Mr W did not initially follow by sending an email instead. CGI did not receive the first email, so it had no notice of Mr W's cancellation request at that stage. When CGI received the second email, it appropriately directed Mr W to phone to cancel per its policy terms. The policy was cancelled within six days of the premium being taken, and the refund was issued. The inconvenience to Mr W was short-lived. The ombudsman could not consider complaint handling delays as these fall outside FCA regulation. The £75 compensation offered by CGI was considered generous given Mr W's failure to follow the stated cancellation procedure.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website