Practice of extended competence of the Ombudsman for the financial services of the United Kingdom in the field of insurance

Abstract

In this paper, the authors discuss the decision-making method of the UK Financial Services Ombudsman enabling more favourable outcomes for an insured person in relation to the strict application of law. The authors delineate the manner in which the Ombudsman and the courts act and present specific examples in which the Ombudsman has recognized some rights to the insured whose exercising they themselves did not demand from the insurer. In the practice of the Ombudsman, there are numerous examples in which disputes arose due to a poor understanding of the breadth of the insurance coverage by the insured, the quality and scope of the damage repair service, a restrictive interpretation of the subject of insurance by the insurer. The circumstances on which the Ombudsman made decisions in disputes were based on the standard of a “vulnerable insured person” and a free belief of this body regarding the existence of unfulfilled expectations, which could contribute to the further improvement of the legal framework for the protection of the insured persons.