Upheld: unfair claim decline and unreasonable delay complaint against AXA Insurance UK Plc
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-6318474 of 2026-05-11T00:00:00+00:00. unfair claim decline and unreasonable delay complaint against AXA Insurance UK Plc. Outcome: Upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-6318474 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2026-05-11T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | AXA Insurance UK Plc |
| Product | insurance |
| Claim type | unfair claim decline and unreasonable delay |
| Outcome | Upheld |
| Remedy | AXA must: (1) Consider S's claim under the policy for damage and loss of rent; (2) Reimburse any rent lost by S in the six-month period 1 October 2023 to 31 March 2024, subject to evidence of loss, with 8% simple per annum interest applied from the dates sums should have been received; (3) Pay S £750 compensation for inconvenience. |
Summary
S, a company, claimed on its let property insurance with AXA after water damage was discovered caused by a cannabis farm in the property in March 2022. AXA investigated for three years before declining the claim in June 2025 based on alleged breaches of policy conditions regarding reasonable precautions and statutory safety checks. The ombudsman found AXA failed to prove S breached the reasonable precautions condition, as AXA could not show S knew rent had stopped entirely given the pattern of sporadic payments and catch-ups. For the safety checks condition, even if breached, AXA failed to show materiality to the loss. The ombudsman also found AXA unreasonably delayed the claim by two years by not making enquiries with the managing agent until 2024 when it should have done so in November 2022. AXA was ordered to reconsider the claim, reimburse lost rent for six months (1 October 2023 to 31 March 2024) with interest, and pay £750 compensation for inconvenience.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
AXA failed to establish a breach of condition 6a because it did not show that S recognised a risk and deliberately courted it. AXA could not prove S knew rent had stopped entirely as of November 2021, given the pattern of sporadic payments and catch-ups. For condition 6b, even if safety checks were not completed, AXA failed to show the breach was material to the cannabis farm loss, as the link between statutory checks and the installation of the farm was too tenuous. AXA unreasonably delayed the claim by approximately two years by not making enquiries with the managing agent until 2024 when it should have done so in November 2022. This delay caused S to lose rental income for six months (1 October 2023 to 31 March 2024) which AXA must reimburse.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| AXA Insurance UK Plc, all decisions | 3,723 | 35% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website