Not upheld: Home insurance claim disputes complaint against Accredited Insurance (Europe) Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Miss G complained about how Accredited Insurance handled her home emergency claim for a toilet leak reported in January 2025. After an emergency contractor isolated the toilet and advised a two-week drying period, Miss G discovered further ceiling damage and appointed her own plumber, who found the isolation was incomplete and identified a hairline crack in the concealed cistern. Miss G claimed the contractor failed to properly make the leak safe, causing additional property damage. Accredited declined the complaint, stating the emergency service was appropriate and permanent repairs fell outside policy cover. The ombudsman upheld Accredited's position, finding the contractor acted reasonably in taking temporary isolation steps and correctly identifying that invasive trace and access work would be needed for permanent repair, which fell outside the policy's scope.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman concluded that the home emergency policy was designed to provide temporary emergency response, not permanent repairs. The contractor's isolation of the toilet was a reasonable interim step consistent with the policy's limited purpose. The underlying cause was a concealed cracked cistern requiring invasive exploratory work, which fell outside the policy scope and was not something the emergency contractor could reasonably have identified or repaired during a non-invasive callout. The available evidence did not demonstrate that later damage was more likely caused by the contractor's unreasonable act or omission rather than continuation of the underlying leak. The ombudsman found no persuasive evidence that Accredited treated Miss G less favourably due to protected characteristics.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website