Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Tesco Personal Finance Limited trading as Tesco Insurance

Decision detail

Summary

Mr and Mrs C complained to the FOS about how Tesco Personal Finance Limited sold and administered a legal expenses insurance policy to them, claiming Tesco treated them unfairly by marketing the cover as its own product while refusing to take responsibility, failing to provide appropriate support for vulnerabilities, and making an administrative error in correspondence. The ombudsman found that Tesco made it sufficiently clear during the sales call and in policy documentation that the cover involved third parties (a claims handler and underwriter), appropriately referred the complaint to the claims handler as per policy terms, and responded reasonably to Mr C's communication needs by recording vulnerability information and using written correspondence as requested. Although Tesco made an administrative error referring to car insurance instead of home insurance, this was corrected and did not affect the complaint consideration. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Tesco did not mislead Mr C about who provided and administered the legal expenses insurance cover, as Mr C was aware during the sales call that third parties were involved and the policy terms clearly outlined the roles of each party. The ombudsman concluded that Tesco appropriately referred Mr C's complaint to the claims handler as specified in the policy terms. Regarding reasonable adjustments, while Tesco could not provide all of Mr C's preferred communication methods, the ombudsman was satisfied that Tesco considered his needs, recorded relevant information, and communicated using written correspondence as requested, thereby responding reasonably to accommodate his needs. The administrative error in the final response was acknowledged but deemed not to have affected the complaint consideration or caused separate loss.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website