Not upheld: claims handling delay and failure to follow reasonable adjustment request complaint against Red Sands Insurance Company (Europe) Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr K and Mrs Y complained that Red Sands Insurance delayed settling a travel insurance claim, with payment made on 19 September 2025 instead of within three to five days of 28 August 2025. The delay occurred because Mr K requested payment to his son's account, triggering compliance and sanctions checks, and Red Sands sent three requests for additional information which Mr K did not respond to until calling on 10 September. Additionally, Mr K complained that Red Sands failed to call him in advance of issuing a formal final response letter, contrary to his reasonable adjustment request due to mental health difficulties. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding the payment delay was caused by Mr K's failure to respond to information requests and that the failure to call in advance caused no significant detriment.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Red Sands acted reasonably in requiring additional information for a third-party payment due to compliance and sanctions checking obligations under FCA regulations. The delay was caused by Mr K's failure to respond to three separate requests for information rather than any failure by Red Sands. Regarding the reasonable adjustment request, while Red Sands did not call Mr K in advance of the FRL, the ombudsman found this did not cause significant detriment given Mr K had recent communication about the issue and had the option to call Red Sands himself, which he had done on many occasions.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website