CommInsure has rejected law firm Maurice Blackburn’s criticism that a new report on its claims handling is flawed.

The Deloitte Claims Review Program, commissioned by parent Commonwealth Bank, has cleared CommInsure of systemic failures in rejecting claims.

The review followed concerns raised by regulators and the public about CommInsure claims management practices.

Maurice Blackburn Superannuation and Insurance Principal Josh Mennen says the report appears highly selective in the types of claims chosen for review.

“The terms of reference for this report appear to have been very carefully limited to ensure an outcome that does not fully account for what was clearly a dark period within CommInsure,” he said. “There are a number of concerning findings that are very selective in looking at historical claims data and the impacts of this.”

Mr Mennen says the fact no customers or claims staff were interviewed is disturbing.

CommInsure says the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) were given copies of the report.

“At the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services inquiry into the life insurance industry on February 24, APRA stated it was ‘satisfied that the reviews are robust, complete and independent’,” CommInsure said.

Mr Mennen says the report did not examine conflicted incentives.

“That is completely unacceptable – we know from ASIC’s reporting that decline bonuses were paid by some insurers to claims staff,” he said. “CommInsure seeks to maintain such a practice is no longer occurring, but there is nothing to outline to what extent this may have occurred in the past or what has been done about this.”

The insurer says claims staff “do not receive financial incentives for declining claims or delaying claims assessments”.

Shadow Financial Services Minister Katy Gallagher says the report is a cover-up.

“The release of the CommInsure report demonstrates very clearly Malcolm Turnbull’s protection of the banks and is allowing the Commonwealth Bank to brush off the scandal with a ‘nothing to see here’ report,” she said.  

“The new report was commissioned and paid for by the Commonwealth Bank into its own scandal-plagued insurance arm. Publishing a report without interviewing a single customer is simply inadequate and offensive to the victims of this scandal.”

Ms Gallagher says Labor will continue fighting for a royal commission on banking to “shine a light on the misconduct and cultural issues in the banks”.

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