In the first three months of this year, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) received over 2,000 complaints regarding buildings insurance, which represents a 13% increase from the same period last year.
In 41% of cases, the FOS upheld the complaints, which mostly concerned the rejection of applications, delays in processing claims, and claim values.
According to FOS director Sean Hamilton, it’s “concerning to see this significant change in the number of unhappy consumers”.
The service was established as a stand-alone mechanism to settle disagreements between customers and financial firms.
The spike is attributed, according to the FOS, to a rise in complaints about flood or storm damage claims, which are sometimes “complex and expensive”.
A contributing factor is the difficulty insurers are having locating suppliers and laborers because of supply chain problems. According to the Ombudsman, this has led to a rise in expenses, rendering claims “substantially” more costly.
There have been problems finding alternate lodging; some clients have complained about often having to switch hotels at short notice, while insurers have stated that there were no other options at all.
