Vitality Health Limited · DRN-6098949

The complaint Mr D is unhappy that Vitality Health Limited didn’t promptly settle a claim he made on a private medical insurance policy. What happened The details of this complaint are well known to both parties, so I won’t repeat them again here. Instead, I’ll focus on giving my reasons for my 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. The relevant rules and industry guidelines say that Vitality have a responsibility to handle claims promptly and fairly. And they shouldn’t decline a claim unreasonably. Vitality accepts the claim wasn’t settled promptly and that Mr D was caused avoidable distress and inconvenience. So, the key issue for me to decide is whether settling the claim and paying Mr D £150 compensation is fair and reasonable. I’m satisfied it is for the reasons I’ll go on to explain. I accept that Mr D would have been worried to receive correspondence indicating that failing to settle the claim could lead to debt recovery and have an impact on his credit file. It also took time and effort for Mr D to pursue Vitality to get things sorted. I don’t doubt that this caused him frustration, worry and inconvenience. However, I can only consider what did happen, rather than what might have done. Based on the available evidence the invoice, which was for £14, was resolved by Vitality without any impact on Mr D’s credit file. I think compensation is due for the distress and inconvenience caused by poor service. I’m satisfied that £150 compensation fairly reflects the impact of the distress and inconvenience caused over several weeks of having to deal with correspondence and chase Vitality. This was more than minimal and impacted him over a period of a few months. I think Vitality have done enough to put things right as the compensation offered is fair and they’ve settled the outstanding bill. My final decision I’m not upholding this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr D to accept or reject my decision before 23 April 2026. Anna Wilshaw Ombudsman

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