Not upheld: Travel / life insurance claim disputes complaint against Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited

Decision detail

Summary

The estate of Mr B complained that Aviva Life & Pensions UK Limited failed to process a joint life insurance application in good time and unfairly declined a claim following Mr B's unexpected death on 12 April 2025. The application had been deferred on 19 February 2025 due to Miss F's medical investigation. When the investigation concluded on 25 March 2025, Aviva placed the request in an underwriting queue rather than directing the adviser to amend the application online. The ombudsman found no active policy was in place at the time of Mr B's death and that even with better service, there would not have been sufficient time to complete underwriting and inception before his death. The complaint was not upheld, though Aviva's £1,700 compensation for service failures was deemed appropriate.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

For a claim to be paid, an active policy must be in place. The joint application was deferred on 19 February 2025 and no individual policy for Mr B was established. Although Aviva was notified on 25 March 2025 that Miss F's investigation had concluded, there was insufficient time to process the application before Mr B's death on 12 April 2025. Even if the adviser had amended the application online, Aviva's earliest review would have been 8 April 2025 (when Mr B was admitted to hospital), and further information from Miss F's GP would have been required, making inception impossible before Mr B's death four days later.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website