Not upheld: unfair policy cancellation complaint against Haven Insurance Company Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained that Haven Insurance unfairly cancelled his motor insurance policy with immediate effect following an investigation into possible unauthorised brokers. Haven's final response acknowledged Mr M was a victim and removed the cancellation marker. The ombudsman found that Haven was entitled to cancel based on a fraud prevention agency alert treated as evidence of fraud, and was not obliged to share confidential information or allow Mr M to respond. Since the cancellation marker was removed, no damage to Mr M's insurance record occurred. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman accepted that Haven was entitled to treat the fraud prevention agency alert as evidence of fraud and was entitled to fear greater claims risk. Under Haven's policy terms, cancellation with immediate effect was permitted where there was evidence of fraud or valid reason. The ombudsman found that Haven was not obliged to share confidential information or give Mr M an opportunity to respond. Additionally, since Haven removed the cancellation marker in its final response, no damage to Mr M's insurance record occurred.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website