Not upheld: claims handling - disclosure of personal information and communication complaint against UK Insurance Limited trading as Direct Line

Decision detail

Summary

Ms M complained to the FOS about how UKI handled her motor insurance claim following an accident in October 2023. Ms M was unhappy that UKI had passed her personal details to the third-party insurer, which subsequently instructed solicitors to send her court documents. UKI did not uphold the complaint, stating it was not responsible for third-party actions. The ombudsman upheld UKI's position, finding that the policy terms explicitly permitted sharing personal information to help settle claims and that UKI could not be held responsible for the actions of third parties. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman determined that UKI's actions fell within the scope of the policy terms which explicitly permitted sharing personal information to help settle insurance claims. The ombudsman could only assess UKI's conduct and not that of third parties. While Ms M felt frustrated by lack of communication, the ombudsman noted that claims involving multiple parties take time and that liability had not yet been decided at the time of the final response, so no negative impact could be concluded beyond frustration.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website