Ageas Insurance Limited · DRN-6215335

The complaint Mrs L complains Ageas Insurance Limited has unfairly declined claims she made on her contents insurance policy. What happened Between April and September 2023, Mrs L made four separate claims to Ageas for water damage caused by different leaks. In early 2024, Ageas declined all of the claims; it wasn’t satisfied Mrs L had shown she’d suffered damage caused by insured events. Mrs L complained about Ageas’ decision and a complaint was brought to this Service. That complaint was looked at by one of our Investigators, who issued her findings. In relation to the first claim for damage to a bathroom, our Investigator said most of the damage reported to various items hadn’t been evidenced, as such it was reasonable Ageas didn’t cover those. She recommended Ageas assess whether a water damaged carcass would be covered under the contents policy. She said if it considered this item covered by the policy, it should settle this part. For the three other claims, our Investigator recommended Ageas reconsider the claims, based on information Mrs L had provided from the council (the owner of the property) relating to the various callouts to the property. But she noted that across all the claims, there appeared to be a lack of evidence to support a lot of the damage Mrs L was claiming for. She said she’d only expect Ageas to reconsider any damage if Mrs L provided further evidence. As such our Investigator encouraged Mrs L to share with Ageas any she had. For some poor claim handling, our Investigator recommended Ageas pay £75 compensation. Both parties accepted that complaint outcome and so the complaint was resolved in February 2025. As such, the above is only included for background, and the findings of the Investigator in that first complaint will not be revisited as part of this complaint. However, having assessed matters again, in April 2025 Ageas told Mrs L it still wouldn’t agree to cover the claims. It said there had been previous claims in 2022 for water damaged items, including a sofa, wardrobe and clothes, which was cash settled for around £16,000. It wasn’t satisfied that Mrs L had shown she’d repurchased those items damaged in those claims. And that Mrs L hadn’t shown that those new items had been damaged again by these reported leaks in 2023. Mrs L raised a further complaint, answered by Ageas in June 2025. That complaint is the subject of this decision. Unsatisfied with Ageas’ response, Mrs L referred her complaint to this Service. She made various points including that Ageas cannot show she is claiming for the same damage that she’s previously had cash settlements for. Our Investigator didn’t recommend the complaint be upheld. He thought Ageas had made a reasonable decision to decline the claims, having reviewed the information from the council. This was on the basis that Mrs L hadn’t shown she’d suffered losses that were covered under the policy. However, he noted that after Mrs L had referred matters to this Service, Ageas had accepted that it should have handled matters better. To reflect the unnecessary distress and inconvenience caused, it had offered £500 compensation which he considered to be a fair amount.

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Mrs L didn’t accept that outcome. As the matter hasn’t been resolved, it has come to me to decide. What I’ve decided – and why I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint. In keeping with the informal nature of this Service, the background set out is a brief overview of what has happened. My findings will also be brief, focusing on the key reasons for reaching the decision I have. Overall, I find Ageas, with it having reviewed the information from the council and anything provided by Mrs L since the previous complaint was resolved by this Service, reasonably declined to provide assistance for all four claims raised. I’ve set out my findings on each in turn. Bathroom In relation to the water damaged carcass, Ageas maintained its decision to decline to cover this. It said whilst this may be reviewed under the “tenant’s improvement” section of the policy, Mrs L hasn’t provided any proof of installation, or the dates. As such, it said unless this was provided, it wouldn’t consider this further. I’m satisfied this was a reasonable position for Ageas to take. The cabinet in question is part of a fitted bathroom suite, which wouldn’t usually be installed by a tenant – it would be part of the fixtures provided in the property. So, Mrs L needs to reasonably show that she installed the damaged bathroom cabinet in order to benefit from cover on the policy. In relation to the other items claimed for in this claim, I cannot see Mr L has provided any more evidence, such as photographs, of the other damage items she’s claimed for. So I consider Ageas position to maintain its decline of those items, to be fair and reasonable. Kitchen Mrs L said there had been a leak from a pipe in the kitchen on 18 April 2023. That date doesn’t correspond with any of the jobs on the council’s list to show that a leak in the kitchen was reported at that time. Mrs L says pipework was replaced in July 2024, but she hasn’t provided anything to support that was the case, and there is no corresponding entry on the council’s job list in July 2023. The only relevant entry in June 2023 says “please inspect quality of kitchen pipes”. That is not enough to persuade me there was an accepted issue with the pipes that had caused a leak. And as there is no follow up job to replace any pipework that was inspected, I’m satisfied Ageas has reasonably declined this claim. And in any event, Ageas’ decision was that there was no evidence of water damage to the units from a leak under the sink. Having reviewed the photographs taken of the kitchen units, I’m satisfied that was a reasonable conclusion for Ageas to make. I can see no swelling or warping of the units that might suggest water damage. Mrs L didn’t provide any further evidence to substantiate this loss to Ageas, as such I’m satisfied it has reasonably declined to cover the damage. Wardrobe Mrs L said there had been a water leak into a wardrobe, which had damaged it, and her clothes, in August 2023. The only record on the council job list for August 2023, said that Mrs L had reported a light was not working, despite replacing the bulb. I’m not satisfied that this supports Mrs L’s claim that a wardrobe and clothes were damaged by an escape of water.

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Mrs L’s own notes she has provided of her record of the council visits say they attended to assess the bedroom on 7 September 2023. However, that does not tally with how the council reported the job, with it saying it attended to lower an extractor fan at Mrs L’s request. As such I find Ageas’ position – having assessed the job list – that it maintained its decline of the claim, to be reasonable. I also cannot see that Mrs L provided any further evidence to support this claim, following this Service’s previous review. Mrs L has said that Ageas cannot prove that she is claiming for items Ageas previously cash settled for in claims made in 2022. However, it is for Mrs L to show she’s suffered damage covered by the policy. And so, it is for her to show that, if she’s claiming for the same or similar items that have been involved in a previous claim, that she had replaced those items after receiving that cash settlement. Storage room, boiler room and living room Mrs L said there had been another leak, in September 2023, where water had come through the walls and into a storage cupboard, affecting items in her living room. Ageas’ position is that, having re-reviewed the claim, it is not satisfied that there is any confirmation of any damage resulting from this a water leak. There is a job on the council list for 15 September, which shows Mrs L had told the council that there had been a leak into the property through a wall. But this isn’t confirmation from the council that it happened, only that the council recorded Mrs L’s contact and agreed to assess the brickwork. As such I’m not persuaded this means Ageas should meet the claim. Mrs L’s claim was for a damaged sofa, clothes and bed linen. Following the previous review by this Service I can’t see that Mrs L has provided any further information to Ageas to substantiate her loss. Ageas has further said that in its cash settlement for the 2022 claim (also referenced above) that included the cost of a replacement sofa and clothes, which had also been damaged by water. It said Mrs L hadn’t provided any proof of purchase for the replacement items from the cash settlement, so it wasn’t able to validate any “new” damage from this reported leak. Having reviewed Mrs L’s submissions, I don’t consider this was an unreasonable position for Ageas to take. Compensation Ageas said it felt there had been a lack of service to Mrs L, as such it offered £500 compensation. I’m satisfied that is a fair and reasonable offer. Ultimately, I’m satisfied these claims were declined reasonably by Ageas, but I think it could have communicated better, and more frequently with Mrs L. As such, Ageas will need to pay this amount to resolve the complaint. My final decision My final decision is that Ageas Insurance Limited needs to pay £500 compensation to resolve the complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mrs L to accept or reject my decision before 23 April 2026. Michelle Henderson Ombudsman

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