You shouldn't feel uncomfortable speaking up if you're unhappy with your car insurance policy.
It's worth raising a complaint with your insurer first. But if you're not happy with their response, you could file your complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service.
It might seem like a hassle, but here's what you should bear in mind before making a complaint about your car insurance company.
It could be that you're unhappy with the service provided to you, or that a claim you've made hasn't been handled correctly. Whatever the case may be, there are steps you can take to resolve any dispute you have:
1. Call your insurer
You should take your complaint to your car insurance company directly by phone or email. Often, disputes with your insurer might be sorted without needing to escalate any further. This could save you a lot of time and hassle.
Your insurer has 8 weeks to respond to your complaint, but most try to answer within 3 working days.
Most insurance companies record their calls, so keep a note of the date and time you called, as well as who you spoke to. This could help should you need to take the matter to the Ombudsman.
If you're having problems with your insurer, we might be able to help you.
2. Write a letter of complaint
If calling them doesn't resolve the complaint, you could write a letter of complaint to the insurance company. Most insurers should have a formal complaints procedure they must follow. Make it clear in your letter that you're making a formal complaint and give evidence to support it.
3. Contact the car insurance ombudsman
In an ideal world, your insurer takes your complaint on board and offers you a satisfactory resolution. But life isn't always so simple...
If the insurance company doesn’t resolve your complaint or claim to your satisfaction, the final step is to go to the car insurance ombudsman.
But what is the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)? In short, they're an independent and impartial service that resolves disputes between consumers and businesses.
You can register your complaint online or by calling the motor ombudsman's contact number: 0800 023 4567. But you must do this within 6 months of receiving the insurer’s final response.
You can also contact the ombudsman about an existing complaint by email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk.
Over 68,000 new complaints were filed to FOS between October and December 2024, with car and motorbike insurance a recurring topic.
4. Use a small claims court
If the ombudsman comes to a decision, it's final. And, if the decisions is accepted by the consumer, it's legally binding for both the insurer and the consumer.
The key thing to remember here is that once the ombudsmen's decision is final, it can't be reviewed by another ombudsman.
As a public body, the ombudsman could be reviewed by the courts. This would tend to focus on how the ombudsman arrived at its decision, rather than the facts and merits of the case itself.
Brace yourself, you might not be entirely happy with the ombudsman decision. At this point, you could take the matter to small claims court. You can use the GOV.UK tool to find a court.
Bear in mind, this process can be expensive as there are additional legal costs. Whereas the Financial Ombudsman's decision is based on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)'s regulations, a court would likely only look at whether any laws were broken.
Make sure you get legal advice before you go down this route, as it could be expensive.
When to make a complaint to the car insurance ombudsman
You should give the insurer a chance to sort the issue out first. The insurer must usually respond to your complaint within 8 weeks.
If you’re still unhappy, you could take the complaint to the ombudsman. But you must do this within 6 months of receiving the insurer’s final response.
What can I complain to my insurer about?
You can complain to your insurer about these things:
Car repair complaints
Unhappy with your insurer's repair on your car? You can complain to your insurer about:
- Delays to repairs
- The quality of the work
- Further damage caused during repair
- Lack of a courtesy vehicle
- The decision to repair instead of writing off the vehicle
Generally, if your policy says the insurer will arrange the repair, they should be responsible for the quality of the work.
But, crucially, some policies only offer to reimburse you for the cost of the repair that you arrange yourself. In this instance, the insurer isn't responsible if the work isn't up to the right standard.
That's why it's essential to read through your policy documents so you're familiar with who's responsible for carrying out repairs.
When you’re comparing car insurance quotes from different insurers, you should check how long they guarantee repairs for.
Car valuation complaints
The ombudsman says most complaints in this area involve disagreements about the market value of the vehicle. There's some misconception surrounding market value, but generally, it's the price a vehicle would’ve sold for before it was damaged or stolen.
In cases where a vehicle has been deemed a write-off, many drivers wrongly believe they can claim the amount their car was originally worth.
If the ombudsman believes the customer has lost money due to the insurer’s mistake, it’s up to the insurer to put things right.
If they think the insurer’s valuation is unfair, they usually tell them to increase it and add 8% interest to the adjusted figures. If you think your insurer has provided a low-valuation offer, you could challenge it.
Misrepresentation and ‘non-disclosure'
This is when an insurer doesn't pay out because you've held back key information.
The ombudsman states:
“We see cases where consumers don’t disclose a modification made to their car – something which might affect the car’s risk profile, as well as the premium the insurer would have asked for had it known about the alteration.
"We also see cases where consumers have changed their car mid-way through the policy term but don’t update their insurer.”
People often aren't aware they're misrepresenting, that's why the ombudsmen gets a lot of complaints about this. People might believe their insurer has treated them unfairly by either not meeting their claim or by altering the terms of their policy.
This goes back to the ombudsman, who decides if the insurer acted fairly when a misrepresentation was indicated.
If a customer says they’ve been treated unfairly, the ombudsman may consider the insurer’s obligations under The Consumer Insurance Disclosure and Representations Act 2012.
If you’re unsure about any questions the insurer asks you before you buy the policy, let them know that you need more information. You should also make a note of the conversation.
Complaints regarding problems at renewal
An insurer may look to reject an insurance claim because a customer failed to disclose important information at their car insurance renewal.
If so, the insurer must prove that it asked the customer clear questions when they renewed the policy.
But you're normally responsible for telling the insurer about a change to your circumstances.
When you buy insurance, you should be made aware of information you need to disclose. Like a driving conviction, for example.
If you don’t let an insurer know about changes like this, future claim you make on a policy could be refused.
Complaints about fault claims and no-claims bonus
A 'fault claim’ is any claim where the insurer has paid out to the policyholder or a third party but can't recoup the costs.
It doesn’t have anything to do with who was to blame in the accident that led to the claim. It's just based on whether the losses can be recovered.
But having one of these on your record could mean you lose your no-claims bonus and face higher insurance costs.
If this is on your record, you could lose your no-claims bonus and face higher insurance costs.
Many customers contact the car insurance ombudsman because they’re confused about why a fault claim has been put on their records when an accident wasn't their fault. The ombudsman says:
“They’re usually unhappy because they’ve lost their no-claims bonus or no-claims discount, or because their premiums have increased".
Because no-claims bonuses and the way they're applied vary between insurers, every case has to be considered individually.
Sometimes, motorists think they have a certain amount of no-claims bonus. But when they move to another insurance company, it turns out to be less than they thought.
When there’s been a misunderstanding about fault claims and no-claims bonuses, the ombudsman looks at the policy terms. They look into how the insurer highlighted this information to the customer when they sold them the policy.
The ombudsman may also look into whether the sales process was unclear and how this may have affected the customer.
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