Partially upheld: Travel / life insurance claim disputes complaint against Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Miss W claimed for theft of her car and provided two keys to Admiral. Two independent expert inspections concluded one key was not programmed to the vehicle and the other had not been used since March 2025, leading Admiral to decline the claim in October 2025, suggesting another key existed. Miss W disputed this, arguing the evidence was unreliable. The ombudsman found Admiral acted fairly in relying on the expert reports, particularly as Miss W's own photos showed increased mileage after March 2025, supporting the conclusion that a different key had been used. However, the ombudsman found Admiral caused unreasonable delays in handling the claim over three months and awarded £250 compensation for the resulting distress and inconvenience.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found Admiral acted fairly in relying on the two independent expert reports which reached similar conclusions about the keys. The fact that both reports indicated one key was not programmed and the other had not been used since March 2025, combined with Miss W's photos showing increased mileage after that date, supported Admiral's position that another key likely existed. The ombudsman rejected Miss W's arguments that the key log may not have recorded all uses, finding it unlikely no usage would be recorded if that key had been used. However, the ombudsman found Admiral caused unreasonable and avoidable delays by taking three months to communicate its decision and by failing to obtain all relevant information during initial interviews.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website