Partially upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Admiral Insurance Company Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained about Admiral's mishandling of motor insurance claims on two vehicles (a 2016 car with an incident in July 2025 and a 2020 car with an incident in October 2025). Admiral made multiple service failures including poor call-handling with transfers between teams, failure to provide assistance for Mr M's dyslexia despite requests, and sending compensation to an incorrect address. While the ombudsman found Admiral's decision to repair rather than replace the 2016 car was based on fair engineering assessment, the service failures caused significant distress and inconvenience to Mr M. The ombudsman upheld the complaint in part and directed Admiral to pay an additional £150.00 compensation beyond the £80.00 and £350.00 already paid.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Admiral's decision to change the vehicle status from total loss to repairable was based on engineering assessment and therefore fair, Admiral's service failures were significant. These included poor call-handling with multiple transfers between teams, failure to provide assistance for Mr M's dyslexia despite his requests, and sending a cheque to an incorrect address. The ombudsman accepted Admiral's apology and initial compensation but found the total compensation inadequate given the nature and duration of impact on Mr M during an already difficult time, including feeling 'passed around', having to repeat information, and sometimes feeling unsupported.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website