Not upheld: unfair total loss assessment and poor claims handling complaint against Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs W complained that Admiral unfairly declared her car a total loss following a non-fault incident without obtaining an engineer's report or reviewing her photographs. Admiral had agreed to put the claim on hold while Mrs W was on holiday but contacted her anyway, causing distress. Mrs W subsequently settled the claim directly with the third party's insurer. The ombudsman found Admiral's initial assessment was reasonable given the car's age (20 years), mileage, and reported damage, and that Admiral had offered to verify the decision with an engineer if the claim proceeded. While Admiral's failure to respect the claim hold was acknowledged and compensated with £100, the complaint was not upheld as no error was found in the total loss assessment process itself.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Admiral were required to consider the claim promptly and fairly under the policy terms. The ombudsman found that making an initial total loss assessment based on verbal information and a claims tool was reasonable given the car's age (20 years), reported damage, and cost factors. This practice is not unusual in the motor insurance industry. Admiral made clear the decision was not final and offered to have an engineer review it and consider photographs if the claim proceeded. The ombudsman was satisfied Admiral did everything reasonably expected and Mrs W was adequately informed of her options before withdrawing the claim. The upset caused by the total loss assessment itself was not compensable as no error was found in the assessment process. However, Admiral's failure to respect the claim hold and contact Mrs W on holiday was a service failure that was fairly compensated with £100.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website