Preparing small claims court case against Axa travel insurance

DullGreyGuy

stoem said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Regardless of the timescale involved, is the Ombudsman process not the prescribed procedure before going to litigation ?

No, you can choose to take your complaint to court instead of the ombudsman at any time. There's no legal requirement to use the ombudsman. I feel it drags things out unnecessarily but I guess it's less intimidating (and less costly) than the court option.

Ombudsman is fine if you want a free, no-risk option and don’t mind waiting.
A court judgment carries more force for my personal outcome and is more easily referenced publicly.

I guess I feel a bit more in control using the court process. If Axa aren't completely moronic they'll just apologise and pay now, however given they didn't even acknowledge a formal complaint or followed their own complaints procedure they may need to be forced to the table. 

It's increasingly common for the courts to say you should go through mediation or another form of ADR which the Ombudsman is an example of. You are free to reject the court's suggestion but there are cases of judges taking a dim view of those that do and in cases that easily could have been dealt with by ADR refusing to award costs (deeming they were unnecessary) or worse awarding the defendant's costs despite the case being awarded to the claimant. 

Ombudsman's decision can be converted into a court judgement simply by submission of one form, the judge doesnt consider if the ombudsman's decision was correct or not. They therefore carry the same "force" and have the same options for enforcement in the unlikely event that the insurer ignores the judgement/ombudsman's decision. 

Court process will not be quicker if Axa defends, they are only quicker if you get a judgement in default or the defendant rolls over. The UK average timescale for a Small Track case that goes to a hearing is currently over 50 weeks. The ombudsman is under 26 weeks. 

To ask the noddy question... it is actually Axa that the complaint process in your policy book states to contact? Many of the larger intermediaries do their own claim and complaints handling so Axa is simply the one providing the financial security and any complaint has to be with the intermediary. 

Never heard of LoveitCoverit and so probably more likely that they arent doing their own claims handling but its certainly a reason why Axa may be having issues, with some intermediaries they won't know who the end policyholder is nor will the intermediaries reference mean anything to them. 

cw8825

DullGreyGuy said:

stoem said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Regardless of the timescale involved, is the Ombudsman process not the prescribed procedure before going to litigation ?

No, you can choose to take your complaint to court instead of the ombudsman at any time. There's no legal requirement to use the ombudsman. I feel it drags things out unnecessarily but I guess it's less intimidating (and less costly) than the court option.

Ombudsman is fine if you want a free, no-risk option and don’t mind waiting.
A court judgment carries more force for my personal outcome and is more easily referenced publicly.

I guess I feel a bit more in control using the court process. If Axa aren't completely moronic they'll just apologise and pay now, however given they didn't even acknowledge a formal complaint or followed their own complaints procedure they may need to be forced to the table. 

It's increasingly common for the courts to say you should go through mediation or another form of ADR which the Ombudsman is an example of. You are free to reject the court's suggestion but there are cases of judges taking a dim view of those that do and in cases that easily could have been dealt with by ADR refusing to award costs (deeming they were unnecessary) or worse awarding the defendant's costs despite the case being awarded to the claimant. 

Ombudsman's decision can be converted into a court judgement simply by submission of one form, the judge doesnt consider if the ombudsman's decision was correct or not. They therefore carry the same "force" and have the same options for enforcement in the unlikely event that the insurer ignores the judgement/ombudsman's decision. 

Court process will not be quicker if Axa defends, they are only quicker if you get a judgement in default or the defendant rolls over. The UK average timescale for a Small Track case that goes to a hearing is currently over 50 weeks. The ombudsman is under 26 weeks. 

To ask the noddy question... it is actually Axa that the complaint process in your policy book states to contact? Many of the larger intermediaries do their own claim and complaints handling so Axa is simply the one providing the financial security and any complaint has to be with the intermediary. 

Never heard of LoveitCoverit and so probably more likely that they arent doing their own claims handling but its certainly a reason why Axa may be having issues, with some intermediaries they won't know who the end policyholder is nor will the intermediaries reference mean anything to them. 

Sounds like complaint should go to loveitcoverit 

noitsnotme

cw8825 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

stoem said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

Regardless of the timescale involved, is the Ombudsman process not the prescribed procedure before going to litigation ?

No, you can choose to take your complaint to court instead of the ombudsman at any time. There's no legal requirement to use the ombudsman. I feel it drags things out unnecessarily but I guess it's less intimidating (and less costly) than the court option.

Ombudsman is fine if you want a free, no-risk option and don’t mind waiting.
A court judgment carries more force for my personal outcome and is more easily referenced publicly.

I guess I feel a bit more in control using the court process. If Axa aren't completely moronic they'll just apologise and pay now, however given they didn't even acknowledge a formal complaint or followed their own complaints procedure they may need to be forced to the table. 

It's increasingly common for the courts to say you should go through mediation or another form of ADR which the Ombudsman is an example of. You are free to reject the court's suggestion but there are cases of judges taking a dim view of those that do and in cases that easily could have been dealt with by ADR refusing to award costs (deeming they were unnecessary) or worse awarding the defendant's costs despite the case being awarded to the claimant. 

Ombudsman's decision can be converted into a court judgement simply by submission of one form, the judge doesnt consider if the ombudsman's decision was correct or not. They therefore carry the same "force" and have the same options for enforcement in the unlikely event that the insurer ignores the judgement/ombudsman's decision. 

Court process will not be quicker if Axa defends, they are only quicker if you get a judgement in default or the defendant rolls over. The UK average timescale for a Small Track case that goes to a hearing is currently over 50 weeks. The ombudsman is under 26 weeks. 

To ask the noddy question... it is actually Axa that the complaint process in your policy book states to contact? Many of the larger intermediaries do their own claim and complaints handling so Axa is simply the one providing the financial security and any complaint has to be with the intermediary. 

Never heard of LoveitCoverit and so probably more likely that they arent doing their own claims handling but its certainly a reason why Axa may be having issues, with some intermediaries they won't know who the end policyholder is nor will the intermediaries reference mean anything to them. 

Sounds like complaint should go to loveitcoverit 

That says complaints regarding claims for Gadget Cover only (and sales).  All other claims related complaints are handled by the Scheme Administrator who I assume are Axa in this case?

stoem

I didn’t really ask for any advice but since you’re all bored enough to check if I’ve complained to the right company: yes, I have. I’ve submitted my complaint to Axa who rejected my claim and who gave me the email address to complain to. 

I appreciate your tips but on most previous occasions the advice received on this forum was dubious at best and outright wrong at worst. 

I’ve got legal cover should I need it and will get final advice from them. Let’s first see if AXA have anything to say to the letter before action. 

DullGreyGuy

stoem said:

I appreciate your tips but on most previous occasions the advice received on this forum was dubious at best and outright wrong at worst. 

Then why post the thread?

If it was just to vent your spleen there is a special section to have a rant Praise, vent & warnings whereas you've posted in the section for people seeking advice/help. 

stoem

DullGreyGuy said:

stoem said:

I appreciate your tips but on most previous occasions the advice received on this forum was dubious at best and outright wrong at worst. 

Then why post the thread?

If it was just to vent your spleen there is a special section to have a rant Praise, vent & warnings whereas you've posted in the section for people seeking advice/help. 

Maybe read my post, it says why I posted it.

stoem

Had a response from Axa. Still no acknowledgement of my complaint. However, a further soft decline of my claim.

They have acknowledged that Ryanair do not issue cancellation invoices. They are however rejecting the entire claim (rather than accepting the claim for the flights element) because I haven't provided cancellation invoices to the other parts of the trip.

I've explained that the letter before action would have been received by them today. As a gesture of goodwill, I told them I will forfeit the car parking charges (for which no cancellation invoice exists either) and pointed out once again that the accommodation part was not cancelled but partially used, which is why only a partial claim for the overall accommodation cost was included in the overall claim figure.

I've now given them a further deadline of seven days to settle.

Hoenir

stoem said:

sheramber said:

 Page 34 of policy document

Cancellation • Original cancellation invoice(s) detailing all cancellation charges incurred and any refunds given. 

Good find, but I'm not losing sleep over it.




 

Axa will simply rebuff and quote the standard contractual terms of the policy as a defence. Going to County Court isn't a rubber stamping exercise.  Based on personal opinion as to what should happen. 

stoem

Hoenir said:

Going to County Court isn't a rubber stamping exercise. 

Can you clarify what you mean by that?

My personal experience is that the judge in a small claims case looks at consumers very favourably in these situations.  Maybe that in combination with being well prepared meant that I've always won my cases in full.

I don't expect to always win but I certainly won't let them get away with hiding behind bureaucratic small print.

We had a loss for which I was insured. I don't think even Axa disputes that. I'm happy to provide whatever evidence they want but I cannot produce documents that do not exist.

stoem

Axa have been in touch. The complaints team are now looking into it - sounds vaguely promising so far.

Actually spoke to a real human being who sounded quite reasonable.
Will keep you posted.