Not upheld: claim handling and service failures complaint against Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Miss O complained about how Admiral Insurance handled her car insurance claim following an accident. She raised multiple issues including car cleaning costs, complaint handling, out of pocket expenses, and the adequacy of £250 compensation offered for service failings. The ombudsman found no wrongdoing regarding car cleaning, determined complaint handling was outside FOS scope, advised Miss O to submit invoices directly to Admiral, and upheld the £250 compensation as fair and reasonable. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint overall.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied FOS compensation guidelines and considered the overall impact on Miss O during the relevant period (March to July 2025). While acknowledging some service failings, the ombudsman found that the time period did not necessarily mean constant impact throughout, and that some delays were attributable to the third-party recovery process being inherently lengthy. The ombudsman determined that £250 was proportionate compensation for the unreasonable distress and inconvenience caused, considering the effort required to resolve the issues.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website