Upheld: unfair claim valuation complaint against Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S complained about Admiral Insurance's valuation of his written-off luxury car, which was offered at £76,076.50. The car had significant factory-fitted extras worth tens of thousands of pounds when new. The FOS investigator suggested a higher value of £78,713, but the ombudsman found that the standard valuation approach used by both Admiral and the investigator was inadequate for this exceptional case. The ombudsman upheld the complaint and directed Admiral to obtain an expert manufacturer valuation that properly accounts for the factory extras before finalizing their offer. Both parties accepted the provisional decision.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while the FOS's standard approach to motor valuations works for most cases, this case was exceptional due to the significant factory-fitted extras on a luxury vehicle. The standard valuation guides and advert data provided by Admiral did not adequately account for these extras, which were worth tens of thousands of pounds and likely impacted the second-hand value. Mr S's evidence suggested the extras would make a difference to value. The ombudsman lacked the expertise and evidence to determine a precise fair value but concluded Admiral's offer was not fair and reasonable, requiring an expert manufacturer valuation to properly assess the impact of the extras.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website