Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Advantage Insurance Company Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P complained that Advantage Insurance failed to adequately protect his personal data, leading to two fraudulent policies being taken out in his name and resulting in speeding tickets and a refused bank account application. Advantage's fraud team identified and cancelled the first fraudulent policy on the same day and provided cyber fraud prevention advice. When Mr P notified Advantage of the second fraudulent policy, it was cancelled immediately. The ombudsman found no evidence that Advantage had breached Mr P's personal data and determined that Advantage could not be held responsible for third-party fraud. The complaint was not upheld, with the ombudsman noting that data protection concerns should be addressed by the ICO.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Advantage could not reasonably be held responsible for the actions of a third party using Mr P's personal details to fraudulently take out policies. Advantage acted promptly in identifying and cancelling the first fraudulent policy and provided appropriate advice. When the second fraudulent policy was brought to Advantage's attention, it was cancelled immediately. There was no evidence that Advantage had breached Mr P's personal data security. The ombudsman noted that it is not the FOS's role to dictate what systems or procedures a business should implement, as this is a commercial decision. The ombudsman also noted that any data protection breaches should be investigated by the ICO, not the FOS.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website