What are the most common grounds for an insurance complaint?
Common insurance complaints include: an insurer rejecting a claim they should pay, offering a settlement that undervalues your claim, applying exclusion clauses unfairly, cancelling a policy without proper justification, charging significantly more than the quoted premium, taking unreasonably long to settle a valid claim, and poor customer service or failure to communicate clearly.
What is the Financial Ombudsman Service and how do I use it?
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is an independent body that resolves disputes between consumers and financial businesses, including insurers. It is free to use and its decisions are binding on the insurer (though not on you — you can reject an FOS decision and go to court instead). You can escalate to the FOS once you have received a final response letter from the insurer, or after eight weeks if the insurer has not resolved your complaint.
What does the Insurance Act 2015 mean for consumers?
The Insurance Act 2015 and the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 significantly reformed the duty of disclosure for consumers. You are now required to take reasonable care not to make misrepresentations, rather than the old duty to volunteer all material information. This means insurers can more easily reject claims for deliberate or reckless misrepresentation, but have less grounds to reject claims for innocent or inadvertent errors.
My insurer has offered a settlement but I think it is too low — what can I do?
You can reject the offer and negotiate. Obtain independent evidence of the value of your claim — for property damage, get alternative repair or replacement quotes; for vehicle write-offs, check independent valuations. Write formally disputing the offer with your evidence and request a revised settlement. If the insurer does not improve their offer, you can escalate to the FOS or seek independent legal advice.