Not upheld: provision of incorrect information regarding claim settlement value complaint against Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs L complained that Royal London provided incorrect information about her critical illness claim settlement value, initially stating £25,000 before correcting it to £6,250 the next day. Royal London upheld the complaint and offered £250 compensation, which Mrs L rejected and escalated to the FOS. The ombudsman found that while the error caused distress and false expectations, Mrs L was not entitled to the higher amount under the policy terms, and the correction occurred within 24 hours. The ombudsman upheld Royal London's £250 compensation offer as fair and reasonable, declining to award additional compensation.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman acknowledged that Mrs L was not entitled to the higher amount under the policy terms, as the £25,000 figure was provided in error. While the incorrect information did raise false expectations and cause distress, the error was corrected within 24 hours. The ombudsman considered that Mrs L experienced unreasonable distress and inconvenience requiring reasonable effort to resolve, impacting her over several days. In line with FOS website guidelines, the £250 compensation offered by Royal London was assessed as fair and reasonable for the trouble and upset caused.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website