Upheld: poor claims handling / failure to coordinate with third parties complaint against Ageas Insurance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Ms L complained to Ageas Insurance Limited about their failure to provide her with a suitable hire car following a road traffic accident where her vehicle was deemed a total loss. After Ms L contacted Ageas directly regarding her dissatisfaction with the hire car size provided by accident management company E (arranged through her broker B), Ageas made a separate credit hire instruction to E. However, Ageas submitted this instruction without first ensuring that B's original instruction had been terminated, resulting in E cancelling Ageas's instruction and causing Ms L further confusion and inconvenience. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding that Ageas should have engaged with B and E to fully understand the situation before making their referral, and awarded £100 compensation to recognise the additional inconvenience caused, though this did not cover Ms L's claimed financial losses which she may pursue through the third-party insurer.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Ageas acted unfairly by submitting their credit hire instruction to E before the previous instruction from B had ended, despite being aware of the previous instruction. The ombudsman found that Ageas could have done more to gain a full understanding of what had happened by engaging with B and E before making their referral, which would have ensured their instruction was made appropriately without risk of cancellation. However, the ombudsman acknowledged that Ageas took the action in good faith, attempted to resolve Ms L's concerns, and were ultimately unable to control E's actions as a separate entity. The £100 compensation fairly recognises the additional inconvenience and confusion caused by Ageas's failure to fully understand the complex situation.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website