25 Mar 2024

Insurance complaint data to reveal individual companies

11:42 am on 25 March 2024
Generic image of insurance, homes, houses.

Photo: 123rf

The Insurance Council is promising more transparency around complaints by revealing the number lodged against individual companies.

The industry body most recently reported on the total number of complaints dealt with by the industry and referred to external dispute resolution services in its annual report.

But the council said, together with the dispute resolution agencies, it would provide a breakdown of the data by member companies on its website.

The bodies that dealt with complaints were the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO) and Financial Services Complaints Limited.

"Insurers are right behind this initiative to build trust and offer further confidence to New Zealanders that the industry is committed to be open and transparent in handling their claims," Insurance Council chief executive Tim Grafton said.

The council said about 150 complaints were referred to the external agencies every year, out of 1.2 million claims.

"Most cases are resolved between the customer and insurer with only a small number referred to the independent external dispute resolution schemes.

"These schemes will then investigate the complaint and make a decision either in favour of the customer or insurer, essentially confirming if the correct decision has been made," Grafton said.

Grafton urged caution when interpreting the data.

"For example, it makes sense that the insurers with a larger market share will have more claims and therefore more complaints, and insurers with a smaller market share will tend to have fewer claims and complaints."

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