Not upheld: claim refusal - breach of policy duty of care complaint against Assurant General Insurance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Ms S claimed on a mobile phone insurance policy after her mother lost a phone during a flight home. The phone had been placed in an unlocked bag under a plane seat, left unattended while the mother visited the bathroom, and was not checked before she left the plane. Assurant declined the claim, arguing the policyholder had failed to take proper care of the device as required by the policy terms. The ombudsman upheld Assurant's decision, finding that the policy clearly required the policyholder to take care of the device and not knowingly leave it in circumstances where it was likely to be lost or stolen, and that the circumstances here breached those requirements.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The policy clearly sets out that the policyholder must take care of the device and not knowingly leave it somewhere it is likely to be lost or stolen. The policy requires that if a device must be left somewhere, it should be locked away, left with someone trusted, or concealed out of sight. Ms S's mother left the phone in an unlocked bag under a plane seat, left it unattended while visiting the bathroom, and failed to verify the phone was still present before leaving the plane. These actions constitute a failure to meet the policy's duty of care requirements. Assurant was therefore entitled to decline the claim as the policyholder did not adhere to the policy conditions.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website