Not upheld: claims handling delay and customer service complaint against Kerry London Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr W complained to the FOS about Kerry London Limited's handling of his water damage insurance claim and their refusal to reimburse his legal costs incurred in a dispute with managing agents over unpaid service charges. The claim was made in December 2019 but was not settled until 2025, with the insurers closing it twice (July 2021 and December 2022) due to lack of information. KL faced conflicting instructions from Mr W (who did not want the managing agents copied into correspondence) and the managing agents (who wanted to handle the claim). The ombudsman found that KL acted reasonably in advising Mr W to liaise with the managing agents, and that the claim closure resulted from the managing agents' failure to provide required documentation rather than KL's fault. The ombudsman also determined that Mr W's service charge obligations were a separate legal contract and KL should not be responsible for legal costs arising from that dispute.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that KL were placed in a difficult position by conflicting instructions from Mr W and the managing agents regarding communication about the claim. KL's advice to Mr W to liaise with the managing agents was reasonable given that the managing agents were acting as representatives for the leaseholders under the block policy. The ombudsman concluded that the fault for the claim closure lay with the managing agents' failure to provide required documentation, not with KL. The ombudsman also determined that Mr W's service charge obligations were a separate legal contract unrelated to the insurance claim delays, and therefore KL should not be held responsible for legal costs arising from that separate dispute.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website