Upheld: poor service in claim handling - inadequate information provision and delays in courtesy car arrangement complaint against Advantage Insurance Company Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A complained about AIC's service following a non-fault motor insurance claim. AIC attempted to refer him to credit hire without adequate information and delayed providing his courtesy car entitlement by two days. AIC upheld the complaint and offered £115 compensation. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding AIC's two failures were valid but their impact was mitigated by Mr A declining credit hire and having access to a second vehicle. The £115 compensation was deemed fair and proportionate, and the ombudsman declined to increase it or consider previous claims or impact on Mr A's wife.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

AIC's two failures were accepted: inadequate credit hire referral information and avoidable two-day delay in providing courtesy car. However, the impact to Mr A was mitigated because he declined the credit hire referral (avoiding exposure to potential liability) and had access to a second car during the delay. The £115 compensation fairly recognises these failures and their limited impact. The complaint about repeating accident details was reasonable as the agent needed to verify claim information. The ombudsman cannot consider impact on Mr A's wife (not the policyholder) or previous claims, and cannot direct process changes (FCA remit).

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website