Not upheld: Home insurance claim disputes complaint against Aviva Insurance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs B claimed against her Aviva home insurance policy for fire damage to her property. After an initial complaint was resolved up to February 2025, this complaint concerns claim handling from February to December 2025. Mrs B argued Aviva should cover costs beyond the policy limits due to delays causing additional damage and increased costs for alternative accommodation, storage, and repairs. Aviva offered to settle at the full policy limits of £650,000 for buildings. The ombudsman found Aviva's settlement was reasonable, that the additional basement damage occurred before February 2025 and was outside scope, and that no direct, quantifiable loss from Aviva's modest delay had been demonstrated. The complaint was not upheld, though the ombudsman found £1,500 compensation appropriate for customer service failings.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Aviva fulfilled its contractual obligations by offering to pay the full policy limits. While Aviva caused a modest delay in claim processing between receipt of tenders and settlement offer, there was no compelling evidence this delay caused direct, quantifiable loss to Mrs B. The additional basement damage occurred prior to February 2025 (during storms in December 2024 and January 2025) and therefore fell outside the scope of this complaint, having been considered in the previous decision. The ombudsman found no evidence that Aviva advised unnecessary strip out works or that such works were unnecessary. Although Aviva's customer service failings (late payments, delayed correspondence) caused distress, the ombudsman separated this from the inevitable inconvenience of a major claim.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website