Not upheld: failure to advise on insurance claim notification and duty of care complaint against Independent Connections Limited (ICL)

Decision detail

Summary

P, a limited company, complained that ICL failed to advise it to contact its legal expenses insurer when P notified ICL in April 2025 that its tenant had entered administration. P subsequently incurred approximately £6,000 in legal fees that were not covered by the policy because they were incurred without the insurer's prior agreement. The ombudsman found that P's April communication did not constitute a claim notification, as it contained no confirmed loss and P was explicitly gathering further information. The ombudsman also found that P had access to policy terms clearly requiring insurer agreement before legal costs could be incurred, and should have reviewed these terms before seeking legal advice. Accordingly, the complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman determined that P's April communication did not constitute a claim notification because it contained no confirmed loss of rent and P was explicitly gathering further information. The ombudsman found that even if ICL should have explored a potential claim during the April call, P's own statements indicated it would seek recovery from the administrator and did not require legal advice at that stage. The ombudsman concluded that P had access to policy terms clearly stating that legal costs incurred without insurer agreement would not be covered, and P should have reviewed these terms before incurring legal expenses. Therefore, there was no causal link between any failure by ICL and P's inability to recover the legal costs.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website