DRN-6149550

The complaint Mr Y and Mrs Y complain about the premium increase Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited quoted them when they renewed their multi-car motor insurance policy. They want a further discount and for Admiral to be transparent about how the premium is calculated. What happened Mr Y contacted Admiral after he received his renewal quote, and he made changes to reduce the premium. The price was still too high, so Mr Y ended his multi-car policy. Mr Y complained but Admiral didn’t uphold his complaint about pricing. It did however pay Mr Y £100 compensation for the service he had received. Our Investigator didn’t recommend that the complaint should be upheld. He explained that Admiral calculated the renewal premium based on a number of risks, including loyalty and driving behaviour. He thought it was following standard industry practices. And he thought it didn’t need to disclose its calculations to Mr Y. He thought it was for Mr Y to decide to accept the renewal quote or to shop around for an alternative. And he thought Admiral’s compensation for the trouble and upset caused to Mr Y by its level of service was fair and reasonable. Mr Y replied that his complaint wasn’t about price but about transparency, fairness and poor customer service. He said Admiral’s lack of transparency had wasted his time and delayed him taking out cover elsewhere. Mr Y asked for an Ombudsman’s review, so his complaint has come to me for a final decision. 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. I can understand that Mr Y and Mrs Y want to pay a fair price for their policies. And they feel frustrated that the discounts applied by Admiral aren’t transparent and seem open to negotiation. I can see that Mr Y has spent hours trying to obtain clear information about how his renewal premium was calculated. The regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued rules and guidance for what insurers and intermediaries are expected to do at renewal. The FCA said that firms are required to: • Disclose last year’s premium at each renewal, so that consumers can easily see how the premium has changed from the year before; • Encourage consumers to check their cover and shop around for the best deal at each renewal; and • Identify consumers who have renewed four, or more, consecutive times, and give these consumers an additional prescribed message encouraging them to shop around. I’ve looked at Mr Y and Mrs Y’s renewal invites, and I’m satisfied that Admiral met these requirements. And so I think it provided clear and not misleading information to enable Mr Y and Mrs Y to make decisions about their renewal.

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Mr Y wanted to understand how his renewal premium had been calculated and what discounts had been applied. But there’s no obligation on Admiral to disclose its calculations as these are commercially sensitive. And it’s for Admiral to decide what to charge for cover. It may at first glance sound unfair that an insurer can choose to set the price however it likes, including however much profit it may wish to make. But the insurance market is very competitive, and many consumers’ choices are driven significantly by price. Ordinarily consumers have freedom to choose between many insurers and can avoid those they feel are too expensive or poor value for money. Insurers constantly update how they rate the risk of consumers. And their rates continually change. Admiral has provided us with confidential business sensitive information to explain how Mr Y’s premiums were calculated. As our Investigator has explained, I can’t share this with him as it’s commercially sensitive, but I can assure him that we’ve checked it carefully. I’m satisfied the prices Mr Y was quoted for the renewal have been calculated correctly and all of Admiral’s customers in his position will have been charged a similar premium. And so I’m satisfied that Mr Y isn’t due a further refund. Mr Y said he spent many hours on the phone to Admiral trying to get information about the discounts it had applied when calculating his renewal quotation. Admiral said it had applied all available discounts to Mr Y’s renewal quote, including the discount for his driving behaviour. It offered Mr Y 14 days’ free cover to give him further time to shop around. And I think that was very reasonable. But Admiral agreed it had caused Mr Y inconvenience and frustration by its level of service. He was transferred between departments, and its agents couldn’t give him the requested answers to his questions about his discounts. Admiral offered Mr Y £100 compensation, which Mr Y accepted. I think this compensation was fair and reasonable as it’s in keeping with our published guidance for the impact of its level of service. And so I don’t require Admiral to increase this. My final decision For the reasons given above, my final decision is that I don’t uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr Y and Mrs Y to accept or reject my decision before 25 May 2026. Phillip Berechree Ombudsman

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