The number of Allianz customers affected by family violence and accessing support through their insurance policies has increased 31% in the past year, the company’s data shows.

The latest rise is part of a 70% increase over the past four years. About 60% of affected customers were dealing with motor-related policies or claims, and 40% property-related, in some cases involving a total loss.

“Concerningly, what we are seeing is not only the volume of cases related to family violence increasing, but the severity is also on the rise,” Allianz head of customer advocacy, human rights and community Laura O’Donnell said. 

“Over the past four years we have supported more than 1000 customers who have identified as being a victim of domestic violence. In the past year alone, we have had eight instances where perpetrators have burnt down the house of their partner or family member as a form of abuse.”  

Allianz says support from its high-care team includes enabling victim-survivors to access payments they would not otherwise be entitled to when perpetrators deliberately damage property; providing temporary financial relief; preventing policy cancellations and ensuring continued cover; and rewriting policies in one name to prevent access by the perpetrator.

“Beyond providing insurance, our role is to ensure our teams are trained to identify customers who need our help and can tailor each approach to their needs, ensure our systems have appropriate flagging, security and privacy measures in place, and have policies and services that minimise the potential for abuse,” Ms O’Donnell said.

Allianz says it has joined the Respect And Protect business initiative, which aims to end the weaponisation of products and services by providing consequences for abusers.

It has also updated its family violence policy to include a perpetrator clause, stating policyholders must not use products or services to engage in conduct that is abusive, coercive or violent towards any person, including financial abuse.

If a policyholder is found to have breached the clause, Allianz may not renew their policy.