Partially upheld: credit file reporting and inaccurate account records complaint against Aviva Insurance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr L complained that Aviva recorded missed payments on his credit file relating to a contents insurance policy that should have been cancelled. Mr L claimed he called Aviva in April 2024 to cancel the autorenewal but was unable to provide evidence of the call. Although Aviva had previously resolved a related complaint by removing charges, it maintained the missed payment record was accurate as it had no record of the cancellation request. The ombudsman found that while Mr L could not prove the cancellation call, Aviva's credit file incorrectly showed ongoing payments continuing until February 2025, eight months after the policy was cancelled. The ombudsman partially upheld the complaint, ordering Aviva to amend the credit file to reflect the correct account status but declining to remove the missed payment record due to lack of evidence that Aviva had agreed it was an error.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Mr L could not provide evidence of his cancellation call, Aviva's credit file records showed inaccurate ongoing payment notifications continuing eight months after the policy was cancelled. Although the missed payment record itself was not deemed unfair (as Aviva had not agreed it was an error in 2024), the continued recording of payments after cancellation was an inaccurate reflection of the closed account. The ombudsman determined that Mr L bore the burden of proving he made the cancellation call, but Aviva should correct the inaccurate ongoing payment records. The ombudsman rejected Mr L's suggestion that Aviva was deliberately recording missed payments as retaliation, finding no evidence to support this claim.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website