The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) received 7969 general insurance disputes in the six months after its launch last November, up 20% from a year earlier when the Financial Ombudsman Service oversaw external complaints.

General insurance accounted for 23% of all disputes received in the six months, the second-highest behind banking and finance on 61%.

Delays in claims handling led to most disputes, with 1476 complaints, followed by claim amounts (1327), denial of claims linked to exclusions or conditions (1227), denial of claims in general (1011) and service quality (422).

“The high number of complaints we see relating to delays in claims handling and service quality indicate the industry is still not meeting customers’ expectations,” AFCA says.

“In our view, complaints relating to delays or service quality should be… resolved by financial firms internally and should not be one of the top issues in complaints we receive.

“General insurers need to make sure their teams are adequately resourced and have the right skillsets to deal with these sorts of complaints at the internal dispute resolution stage.”

Comprehensive motor vehicle cover topped the dispute list by product, with 1789 cases, followed by home building (1176), travel (793), motor vehicle for uninsured third party (529) and home contents (300).

AFCA resolved 60% of all complaints during the period and helped achieve $83 million in settlements for consumers and small businesses.