Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Watford Insurance Company Europe Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained that Watford Insurance failed to properly explain a hire car arrangement he believed was a courtesy car, resulting in him being pursued for costs by a credit hire company. Watford had avoided Mr M's policy after finding him at fault for the incident and did not uphold his complaint. The ombudsman examined the credit hire company's email, which only showed Watford had communicated the fault determination, not that it arranged the hire car. Finding no evidence of Watford's involvement in arranging the credit hire or failing to explain such an arrangement, the ombudsman did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman examined the only evidence provided—the credit hire company's email—and found it did not demonstrate that Watford arranged the credit hire agreement. The email only showed that Watford had informed the credit hire company of the fault determination and third party claim settlement. Since Watford avoided the policy, it would not have referred Mr M for credit hire. Without evidence of an arrangement or explanation failure by Watford, the complaint could not be upheld.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website