DRN-6309044

The complaint Miss P has complained about how Bank of Scotland plc trading as Halifax (“Halifax”) handled matters in relation to a claim under a home emergency policy that was provided as a benefit of her fee-paying Ultimate Reward Current Account (“URCA”). What happened Miss P says she submitted a home emergency claim on 2 October 2025. Miss P says she received a message to say that someone would be in contact shortly, but she says no one did then contact her. Unhappy with this, Miss P complained to Halifax on 7 October 2025. Halifax issued its final response to the complaint on 5 December 2025 and didn’t uphold the complaint. After Miss P referred her complaint to this service, one of our investigators assessed the complaint and they too didn’t uphold the complaint. As Miss P didn’t accept the investigator’s conclusions, the matter was referred for an ombudsman’s 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. Having considered everything, I don’t uphold this complaint. Miss P says she submitted a claim on the URCA home emergency policy, but apart from an automated text message confirming her claim had been received, Miss P says she was never contacted by anyone. In this case, although the home emergency cover is provided through Miss P’s URCA, the home emergency insurance is provided by a third-party insurer, rather than provided by Halifax itself. This is a standard industry practice, and it is the insurer, rather than the business responsible for selling such policies (in this case Halifax) who is responsible for handling claims. This is reflected in the policy wording where it explains who to call i.e. the insurer, should the account holder wish to make a claim. It also says who to contact if they wish to complain, again it is the insurer’s details that are given.

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So in this case, although it looks like Miss P may’ve initially contacted the correct business to make the claim, it looks like she then contacted the wrong business (i.e. Halifax) to chase matters up. I can appreciate that it would’ve been frustrating for Miss P to have to wait for Halifax to get back to her about her complaint - after all she pays Halifax for the URCA and the associated benefits. However, as the insurer is responsible for handling Miss P’s claim, it is the insurer, rather than Halifax, who is responsible for handling complaints about her claim. As such, whilst I have sympathy for the position that Miss P found herself in regarding her claim, I can’t reasonably hold Halifax responsible for any failure of the insurer to act on her claim. Although having said that, Halifax is responsible for ensuring that Miss P has the necessary information so that she knows who to contact, should she wish to make a claim or a complaint. But I’m satisfied that Halifax has done that here. The documentation Halifax provides on its website regarding the URCA, does include the contact details for the insurer, should an account holder wish to make a claim or wish to make a complaint about a claim. Miss P says she complained to Halifax on 7 October 2025, yet Halifax didn’t notify the insurer about her claim until 18 November 2025. I think that Halifax could’ve acted quicker than it did in terms of notifying the insurer about Miss P’s dissatisfaction. Afterall, it would’ve been fairly obvious from even a brief glance at Miss P’s complaint that Miss P’s dissatisfaction was not about Halifax and was actually about the insurer’s failure to respond to her claim. Nonetheless, although I think Halifax could’ve moved quicker than it did, it did still take reasonable steps to notify the insurer, in response to Miss P’s complaint, well within the 8 weeks it had to respond to the complaint. Therefore, whilst I appreciate why Miss P is frustrated by the complete lack of response to her home emergency claim, this is not something that I can reasonably hold Halifax responsible for. But I’m satisfied that Halifax had provided the contact details for the insurer in an easily accessible location, should Miss P need that information. And Halifax did notify the insurer about Miss P’s complaint, within the relevant time limit it had to respond to the complaint. So I’m unable to conclude that Halifax has acted unfairly or unreasonably here. My final decision Because of the reasons given above, I don’t uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Miss P to accept or reject my decision before 26 May 2026. Thomas White Ombudsman

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