Not upheld: poor claim handling and customer service complaint against Acromas Insurance Company Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr L claimed on his European roadside assistance motor insurance policy after his car broke down abroad. Acromas arranged initial recovery to a garage but then provided poor communication, failed to arrange onward travel, delayed recovery to his destination, and had a staff member hang up on him, leaving Mr L stranded for several days. Acromas acknowledged its service was lacking and reimbursed his direct costs plus £300 compensation. Mr L sought further compensation of £1,000, arguing he should have been recovered once repairs couldn't be completed before his return date. The ombudsman found Acromas had reasonably restored his position through reimbursement and that £300 was fair compensation for the impact of its errors, declining to uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Acromas made errors in claim handling and service, it had reasonably restored Mr L's position by reimbursing his direct costs that were covered under the policy. The ombudsman noted that Mr L's loss of work was an uninsured loss excluded from cover and therefore fairly declined. Despite Acromas' confusion about policy entitlements and poor communication, it ultimately covered the costs Mr L incurred. The ombudsman considered the impact of Acromas' errors over two weeks, including lack of updates, failure to arrange onward travel, unacknowledged hire car request, language support issues, and a terminated call. The ombudsman concluded that £300 compensation was in keeping with FOS guidance for this level of impact and did not require an increase.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website