Not upheld: claim denial - alleged failure to take reasonable care complaint against Assurant General Insurance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H claimed on his mobile phone insurance after leaving a new phone in a taxi. Assurant declined the claim under a policy exclusion for loss due to not taking reasonable care. The ombudsman applied the established legal test for reasonable care, which requires proof of recklessness. While Mr H had taken some steps to mitigate risk by keeping his bags next to him in the taxi, the ombudsman found it would have been reasonable for him to check his belongings when leaving the taxi, which would have identified the missing bag. The ombudsman concluded Assurant fairly applied the policy exclusion and did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the established legal test for reasonable care, which requires an insurer to demonstrate that a policyholder acted recklessly (recognised a risk but took no or inadequate measures to mitigate it). While Mr H took some steps to mitigate loss risk by keeping bags next to him, the ombudsman found it would have been reasonable for him to perform a basic check of his belongings when leaving the taxi. This would have revealed he only had two bags instead of three. The ombudsman concluded that such a rudimentary check was a reasonable measure Mr H should have taken, and therefore his measures were inadequate, justifying Assurant's reliance on the policy exclusion.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website