Upheld: poor claim handling, delayed claim resolution, inadequate communication, failure to support customer with third-party dispute complaint against Aviva Insurance Limited
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-6376355 of 2026-05-26T00:00:00+00:00. poor claim handling, delayed claim resolution, inadequate communication, failure to support customer with third-party dispute complaint against Aviva Insurance Limited. Outcome: Upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-6376355 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2026-05-26T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | Aviva Insurance Limited |
| Product | car insurance |
| Claim type | poor claim handling, delayed claim resolution, inadequate communication, failure to support customer with third-party dispute |
| Outcome | Upheld |
| Remedy | Aviva Insurance Limited must: (1) Pay Ms P £500 for distress and inconvenience; (2) Following evidence of travel costs incurred by Ms P, reimburse Ms P these costs incurred between 12 December 2025 to 5 January 2026 and 21 January 2026 to 4 March 2026; (3) Pay interest on any payment made under direction (2) above, calculated from date of payment by Ms P to date of payment by Aviva, using simple interest at time-weighted average of Bank of England base rate plus one percentage point. |
Summary
Ms P claimed under her car insurance policy following flood damage in September 2025. Aviva delayed significantly in resolving the claim, with the diagnostics check not completed until January 2026 and Ms P not informed of the outcome until March 2026. The claim was ultimately decided fairly (repair costs below the £500 excess), but Aviva's handling was poor, including inadequate communication and failure to support Ms P with a concurrent dispute with the hire car company. Ms P incurred substantial travel costs using taxis multiple times daily to take her children to school and suffered significant health impacts during the months without her car. The ombudsman upheld the complaint and directed Aviva to pay £500 compensation for distress and inconvenience, plus reimbursement of travel costs with interest for specified periods, while maintaining that the policy excess requirement was fair.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The ombudsman found that while Aviva's decision on the claim outcome was fair based on the evidence (repair costs below excess), Aviva's claim handling was poor during the period November 2025 to March 2026. Aviva failed to promptly arrange the recommended diagnostics check, provided poor communication about next steps, and failed to proactively support Ms P with the hire car company dispute. The ombudsman was persuaded by medical evidence that Ms P suffered significant distress and inconvenience beyond what would be expected, particularly given the multiple times daily she had to arrange alternative transport for her children and the financial pressure from the hire car dispute. However, the ombudsman found it reasonable to require Ms P to provide receipts for travel costs rather than relying on bank statements, and found it fair to uphold the policy excess requirement despite the poor handling.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| Aviva Insurance Limited, all decisions | 5,098 | 27% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website