Upheld: Home insurance claim disputes complaint against Accelerant Insurance UK Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr E claimed on his commercial vehicle insurance after colliding with a motorbike. Accelerant declined the claim based on dash cam footage allegedly showing Mr E deliberately sped up to hit the motorbike, and subsequently cancelled his policy citing a general exclusion for unsafe vehicles. Mr E disputed this, explaining the speed increase resulted from cruise control activation during a work call. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding Accelerant failed to prove deliberate intent and improperly used a damage exclusion clause to cancel the policy. Accelerant was required to settle the claim, reinstate the policy, and pay compensation totalling £850 plus reimbursements for costs and lost earnings.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Accelerant's decline was based solely on dash cam footage showing speed increase, but this alone does not prove deliberate intent. The incident occurred very quickly (2 seconds) in circumstances consistent with momentary distraction rather than deliberate retaliation. Accelerant failed to provide sufficient reasoning or evidence to support the conclusion that Mr E most likely acted with ill intent, and the burden of proof rested with Accelerant as the party relying on the exclusion. Regarding cancellation, the ombudsman found that a general exclusion clause relating to damage coverage does not provide grounds for policy cancellation; Accelerant should have relied on specific cancellation terms if available. The ombudsman rejected Accelerant's post-hoc arguments about inconsistencies in Mr E's account, as these were not raised in the original decline letter. Mr E's decision to repair the car was reasonable mitigation of the situation created by Accelerant's unfair decline.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website