Claim handling delays were the top general insurance issue in disputes received by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) last financial year, as the industry dealt with a slew of natural catastrophes.

Delay complaints rose 54% to 4804 and were a key issue in home, contents and motor vehicle disputes. Complaints over the claim amount increased about 19% to 3747. Other top issues were denials due to exclusions or conditions, denials for other reasons and service quality.

General insurance complaints in total rose to 18,563 from 16,912 and life complaints increased to 2482 from 1623. The top four insurers together accounted for about 9400 complaints, up 19%.

AFCA Chief Ombudsman David Locke says last financial year included the Victorian earthquake in September, catastrophic storms and flooding across southern states in October and the southeast Queensland/northern NSW flooding.

“We acknowledge that insurers face challenges as they try to manage claims and get people back on their feet,” Mr Locke said.

“We know there are significant issues with the supply of things like building materials, parts and labour because of national and global events outside their control. Notwithstanding this, we are concerned at the rise in complaints being escalated to AFCA.”

AFCA says it wants to better understand the causes of complaints and is “eager to work with insurers to help them resolve disputes more quickly and, ultimately, to prevent them”.

Overall, AFCA received 72,358 complaints against banks, insurers, super funds, investment firms and financial advisers, up 3% on the previous year,

The Insurance Council of Australia says the industry is working hard to resolve claims as quickly as possible and has put on hundreds of extra staff to support claims processing.

“The Insurance Council and insurers continue to collaborate with AFCA through in-person and online community forums, and to gain insights into opportunities for enhanced and quicker complaints resolution,” a spokesperson told insuranceNEWS.com.au.