Upheld: Home insurance claim disputes complaint against AXIS Specialty Europe SE
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-6254158 of 2026-06-22T00:00:00+00:00. Home insurance claim disputes complaint against AXIS Specialty Europe SE. Outcome: Upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-6254158 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2026-06-22T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | AXIS Specialty Europe SE |
| Product | Travel insurance |
| Claim type | Home insurance claim disputes |
| Outcome | Upheld |
| Remedy | AXIS Specialty Europe SE must pay Mr D £987 as the cash equivalent for the value of the 55,000 airline points used to purchase his unused airline ticket. |
Summary
Mr D claimed under his travel insurance policy for the cost of an airline ticket he purchased using 55,000 airline scheme points after being unable to travel. AXIS declined the claim, arguing no monetary sum was paid and the policy did not cover such expenses. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding that points hold intrinsic value and the policy did not explicitly exclude them. Using the airline's published points pricing as evidence, the ombudsman calculated the fair value as £987 (the midway point between pricing tiers) and directed AXIS to pay this amount.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The ombudsman found that while points themselves have no intrinsic value, they represent a loss of equivalent travel costs when unused. The policy terms require loss to be irrecoverable from another source, and no specific exclusion exists for points-paid tickets. The ombudsman accepted the airline's published points pricing as reasonable evidence and calculated the fair value as the midway point between the two pricing tiers (£987 for 55,000 points).
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| AXIS Specialty Europe SE, all decisions | 75 | 31% |
| Home insurance claim disputes, all decisions | 25,670 | 38% |
| Travel insurance, all decisions | 7,668 | 37% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website