New figures from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) indicate that consumers continue to face significant hurdles when making insurance claims, particularly for home and travel policies. Data covering claims handled throughout 2025 reveals that nearly three out of every ten home insurance claims were rejected. While travel insurance customers experienced slightly better outcomes, with acceptance rates between 83% and 85.5% depending on the policy type, these figures lag behind other insurance products such as car insurance, which consistently saw over 90% of claims accepted.
The FCA's General Insurance Value Measures data, which analyses performance across 34 distinct insurance areas, highlights a persistent challenge for consumers. Despite the regulator's ongoing efforts, overall claims acceptance rates have shown minimal change compared to the previous year's 2024 statistics. This lack of significant improvement is particularly concerning for home and travel insurance, where complaint rates among claimants were noted as high. The FCA has stated it expects these trends to improve as a result of its current work, partly in response to campaigning by consumer advocates.
However, the accuracy of comparing individual insurers' performance has been called into question. The FCA itself has warned of inconsistencies in how firms report their claims acceptance data, urging caution when interpreting company-specific figures. Many insurers, when approached about the latest statistics, echoed these caveats, pointing to factors such as varying claim types, company size, or the sheer volume of claims as potential distortions to their reported numbers.
A key issue lies in the definition of a 'claim'. The FCA mandates that a claim begins when a customer contacts their insurer about a 'potentially claimable event'. This means initial inquiries, even if they don't lead to a formal claim, should be counted. However, some firms are suspected of only reporting formally initiated claims, excluding initial 'queries' where a customer might be informed their policy doesn't cover the incident. This discrepancy could artificially inflate the acceptance rates of insurers who exclude these initial contacts.
Among the insurers listed in the data, some showed particularly low acceptance rates. Chubb European Group SE, for instance, reportedly accepted only 30-35% of claims for travel insurance single-trip add-on products. Esure Insurance Limited was noted for paying out on just 40-45% of claims for buildings-only policies. Esure stated that helping customers understand their cover and navigate the claims process remains a priority, and they have enhanced customer experience through clearer information and the introduction of a 'cover checker' tool. The FCA has initiated an industry working group to address these reporting inconsistencies and further scrutinise the statistics.