Not upheld: claim declined - failure to comply with policy condition complaint against Aviva Insurance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A lost his iPhone whilst travelling and attempted to claim under his mobile insurance policy with Aviva. When Mr A contacted Aviva for assistance, he discovered his iPhone was not on his iCloud account and therefore could not be placed into Lost Mode as required by the policy. Aviva declined the claim, stating they could not validate it without evidence of Lost Mode activation. The ombudsman found that the policy condition requiring Lost Mode activation was clearly stated, reasonable, and directly connected to the claim, and therefore upheld Aviva's decision to decline the claim.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the policy term requiring activation of Lost Mode functionality was clearly set out, not unusual, and reasonable as it reduces insurer risk and enables device recovery. The ombudsman determined that Aviva's requirement for Mr A to satisfy this policy condition before processing the claim was fair and reasonable, as non-compliance was directly connected to the claim. The ombudsman noted that insurers can decline claims when policyholders fail to comply with policy conditions connected to the circumstances of the claim.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website