The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) will provide more detailed reporting relating to external dispute resolution to increase transparency for policyholders. 

The council says it has been working with the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme and Financial Services Complaints Limited to help refine and provide a breakdown of data for each insurer member. It says out of 1.2 million claims made annually about 150 complaints are referred to external resolution. 

ICNZ CEO Tim Grafton says the move aims to build further trust and confidence for policyholders and show the industry is “committed to be open and transparent in handling their claims”.  

“We are working hard to support our customers and we take complaints seriously when things go wrong, so we can do things better in future,” Mr Grafton said.  

“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.”   

The council will provide a breakdown of complaints data by each member on its website. Mr Grafton notes that the number of complaints against an individual insurer may be reflective of its size.  

“It is important to remember that each ICNZ member has a different number of customers, claims and complaints and to take this into account when looking and interpreting the data,” he said. 

“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.”