Not upheld: claim decline - disputed causation and breach of policy conditions complaint against INTACT INSURANCE UK LIMITED
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-6312995 of 2026-04-23T00:00:00+00:00. claim decline - disputed causation and breach of policy conditions complaint against INTACT INSURANCE UK LIMITED. Outcome: Not upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-6312995 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2026-04-23T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | INTACT INSURANCE UK LIMITED |
| Product | home insurance |
| Claim type | claim decline - disputed causation and breach of policy conditions |
| Outcome | Not upheld |
| Remedy | None. The complaint was not upheld. The ombudsman noted that Intact has accepted the cistern leak occurring after the claim could have caused some damage, and Mr M can contact Intact directly if he wishes to claim for damage caused by this leak independent of the damage claimed in March 2025. |
Summary
Mr and Mrs M complained about Intact's decision to decline a home insurance claim for water damage to their ground floor dining room wall. Mr M first noticed damp and crumbling plaster in mid-2024 but assumed it would dry out. When damage worsened in late 2024/early 2025, he made a claim in March 2025. Intact's agents found no leak during their March 2025 inspection, but Mr M later provided videos from May 2025 showing water escaping from the ensuite toilet cistern above. The ombudsman found that the cistern leak visible in May 2025 could not plausibly have been occurring since mid-2024 without being detected, and that Mr M had breached policy conditions by failing to investigate the damage promptly and by delaying notification of the claim. The complaint was not upheld.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The ombudsman found that Intact's agents conducted thorough inspections and found no evidence of a leak from the cistern when they visited in March 2025. The ombudsman considered it implausible that a leak visible in May 2025 videos could have been occurring since mid-2024 without being noticed, particularly given that the toilet would be flushed regularly and the water escape was substantial. The ombudsman also found that Mr M breached policy conditions by failing to take reasonable steps to investigate the damage when first noticed in mid-2024 and by unreasonably delaying notification of the claim from late December 2024/early January 2025 until March 2025. The ombudsman concluded that even if an insured peril had been demonstrated, Intact could fairly rely on the policy conditions to decline the claim.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| INTACT INSURANCE UK LIMITED, all decisions | 201 | 38% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website