Partially upheld: unfair claim decline and poor claim handling complaint against Inter Partner Assistance SA (IPA)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr G claimed on his home emergency insurance in November 2025 after water entered his property from the roof. IPA's agent determined that a permanent repair to the lead valley was needed, which IPA declined to cover as the policy only covers emergency temporary repairs and excludes roof replacement unless the authorised tradesperson can perform the work. Mr G paid £1,600 for the repair himself and complained about both the claim decision and poor handling. The ombudsman upheld the complaint in part, finding the claim decision was fair but the handling was inadequate due to poor communication and excessive hold times, and increased compensation from £75 to £150.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman agreed that IPA fairly declined the claim because the policy covers only emergency temporary repairs to prevent water ingress, and the exclusion for roof replacement applies unless the authorised tradesperson can perform the work. Since the agent could not complete the permanent repair needed, the exclusion was fairly relied upon. However, IPA's claim handling was poor because it failed to clearly explain why the claim was declined, causing additional frustration to Mr G. The service failures included inadequate communication and long hold times exceeding one hour.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website