Not upheld: claims handling - failure to provide suitable replacement vehicle complaint against UK Insurance Limited (trading as Direct Line)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H complained that UKI failed to provide a suitable courtesy or hire car while his leased vehicle was being repaired following an accident, forcing him to use taxis for nine days. Mr H, a single parent with social anxiety, found this caused significant distress and disruption to his daily functioning. UKI reimbursed his taxi fares of £180 and offered £100 as goodwill compensation, but Mr H felt this was inadequate. The ombudsman found that responsibility for providing replacement travel lay with Motability under the lease scheme terms, not UKI, and that UKI acted fairly by attempting to source a suitable vehicle and reimbursing travel costs as a goodwill gesture. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman determined that under the policy terms, responsibility for providing replacement travel during repairs lay with Motability, not UKI, as UKI insured the vehicle under a master policy related to the lease scheme. The policy explicitly stated that UKI would not cover indirect losses such as loss of use or travel costs. Although UKI was not obligated to provide a replacement vehicle or reimburse travel costs, they acted fairly by attempting to source a suitable hire car and by reimbursing the taxi fares as a goodwill gesture. The ombudsman could not assess the adequacy of the goodwill compensation amount as this Service can only require firms to put things right where they have done something wrong, not to determine the level of discretionary goodwill payments.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website