13/17
Household contents – proof of loss – policyholder failing to cooperate with insurer’s enquiries – whether insurer justified in rejecting claim.

On 8 May 2000, Mr S took out household contents insurance, with additional cover for specified personal belongings, including legal textbooks and a computer. Two weeks later, he set out to travel by train to Glasgow, where he was due to catch a flight to Frankfurt. As he had a few minutes before the train went, he left the station to buy food from a supermarket and was mugged. He submitted a claim for the computer and textbooks; a silver cigarette case; £300 cash; clothing and his air ticket (a total of some £5,000).

The insurer’s enquiries revealed numerous discrepancies. The film from the CCTV cameras in the station did not support Mr S’s account of the mugging, although he provided more than one version of events. Mr S refused to sign the statement taken by the insurer’s investigator and instead submitted his own summary. The insurer refused to make any payment, stating that Mr S had failed to prove that the incident had occurred or that he had owned the items claimed for.

complaint rejected

It is a claimant’s responsibility to prove that a loss has occurred and that the loss is covered by the insurance policy. There were several unsatisfactory aspects to Mr S’s account that he had failed to resolve. This, together with Mr S’s failure to cooperate with the insurer’s enquiries, justified its refusal to meet his claim.