FOS has published a blog looking at complaints involving holiday cancellations because of positive or delayed Covid test results. It has suggested some tactics insurers might apply which may prevent complaints. These include:
- taking the time to review what happened, why the customer feels that it was unfair to reject the claim and looking at what is fair and reasonable in the circumstances;
- keeping the customer informed of complaint progress, including but not only if a response will be later than expected;
- getting all relevant reports and evidence together;
- if the complaint is about a mis-sold policy, look at the whole sales journey from the customer perspective to check the information provided was clear, fair and not misleading;
- checking whether cover was made clear to the customer – FOS says the customer shouldn’t have to cross refer different sections of the policy to work out what is and is not covered as standard;
- checking the expectations are up to date – given the access to Covid testing and the requirement to register positive results has changed; and
- considering compensation if the firm finds out it has made an error that has caused more than the usual levels of frustration and annoyance to the customer.