Ignored Precedent: Insurance Board Decisions Completely Overlooked
8/10Ignored Precedent (EN)
What Is Board Precedent?
The Danish Insurance Complaints Board (Ankenævnet for Forsikring) is the Danish complaint body for insurance cases. The Board's decisions are advisory but insurers are expected to follow them — and deviations must be justified.
The Board has in previous decisions established that title insurance can cover cleanup of hidden environmental conditions — including buried waste and contamination — when discovered after taking ownership of a property. This precedent is directly relevant to Case 4, where the Claimant found buried asbestos roof tiles on the property.
What Gjensidige Did
In rejecting Case 4, Gjensidige did not address relevant Board precedent at all. There was no reference to previous decisions, no argument for why the precedent didn't apply, and no explanation of how the case differed from similar rulings.
Gjensidige simply ignored it.
Why This Is Problematic
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The precedent exists: The Board has ruled on cases involving hidden environmental conditions under title insurance — precisely the scenario Case 4 concerns (buried asbestos found after property purchase)
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Insurers know the decisions: Gjensidige has a legal department. It is difficult to see how directly relevant Board practice can be overlooked in a case concerning the same question
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No justification for deviation: Even if Gjensidige believed the practice did not apply to Case 4, it should have addressed it and explained why. It was not mentioned in the rejection
The Pattern
When directly relevant practice is not addressed in a decision, it is difficult for the consumer to see whether practice was applied consistently.
Good Insurance Practice
Good insurance practice requires insurers to address relevant practice from the Insurance Complaints Board. Addressing directly relevant practice is, in my assessment, part of good insurance practice — and necessary for trust in the complaint system.
If insurers can freely ignore Board decisions, the complaint system loses its function as consumer protection.