Not upheld: claim decline - failure to highlight policy condition in IPID complaint against Aviva Insurance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr D complained that Aviva unfairly declined his mobile phone insurance claim because he had not activated the Find My iPhone feature, which was a policy requirement. Mr D argued he was unaware of this requirement as it was not highlighted when he purchased the policy. The ombudsman found that while Aviva should have included this significant requirement in the IPID, the omission did not cause Mr D to lose out because he did not read the policy documents and would not have activated the function anyway due to privacy concerns about location tracking. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Although Aviva should have highlighted the Find My iPhone requirement in the IPID as it is a significant policy term, the ombudsman found this omission did not cause Mr D to lose out. The ombudsman reasoned that even if the requirement had been clearly stated in the IPID, Mr D would not have been aware of it because he did not read the policy documents, and he would not have activated the function anyway due to his privacy concerns about location tracking. Therefore, Mr D was in the same position as he would have been if the information had been included.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website