Not upheld: unfair policy cancellation and credit file reporting complaint against Aviva Insurance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr F complained that Aviva unfairly cancelled his motor insurance policy in April 2023, claiming this damaged his credit record and prevented him from obtaining a mortgage. Aviva had experienced a system error preventing access to Mr F's uploaded no-claims discount documents and requested he resend them by email, which Mr F did not do. Aviva cancelled the policy after providing notice and reported accurate data to the credit reference agency. The ombudsman found that Aviva had a valid contractual reason to cancel, provided proper notice, and did not treat Mr F unfairly. The ombudsman also found that Mr F's mortgage application declines were more likely caused by another account in arrears on his credit file rather than the Aviva cancellation, and rejected the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Aviva had a valid contractual reason to cancel the policy (failure to provide required documentation after a reasonable request), provided proper seven days' written notice via email, and confirmed the cancellation. Although Aviva's system error created the initial problem, Mr F's failure to respond to the email request for documents gave Aviva grounds to cancel. The data reported to the credit reference agency was accurate and not negative. The ombudsman noted that Mr F's mortgage application declines were more likely caused by another account in arrears on his credit file rather than the Aviva cancellation, and Mr F failed to demonstrate that Aviva's actions caused or contributed to the mortgage declines.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website