Not upheld: Account administration errors complaint against Liverpool Victoria Insurance Company Limited trading as Allianz (LV)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P complained that LV incorrectly recorded a 'fault' claim on the CUE industry database following a claim for damage to a hire car (caused by rodents), which resulted in his subsequent insurance policy being cancelled and him paying a significantly higher premium elsewhere. LV had attempted to contact Mr P multiple times in March and April about the incident but Mr P did not respond to most attempts. LV eventually removed the claim from CUE and paid Mr P £541.35 for the increased premium plus £250 compensation. Mr P sought £400 compensation from the ombudsman. The ombudsman found that both parties contributed to the problem—LV should have handled the claim more promptly and informed Mr P of the recording, but Mr P's non-response to contact attempts also delayed resolution. The ombudsman upheld LV's existing payments as fair and did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while LV made mistakes in not closing the claim promptly and not informing Mr P about the CUE recording, Mr P also contributed to the problem by failing to respond to LV's repeated contact attempts in March and April, which may have prevented the claim from being closed earlier. LV had warned Mr P of the consequences of non-response. The ombudsman considered that both parties were at fault and that the refund of the increased premium (£541.35) and compensation (£250) already paid by LV was fair and in line with FOS guidelines. The ombudsman also noted that Mr P's worry about future insurance impact was speculative rather than actual harm.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website