Insurance disputes rise by a third
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) recorded a 45% rise in new disputes across all divisions in the second half of last year.
General insurance disputes rose 33% while disputes in the investments, life insurance and superannuation sectors rose a whopping 85.5%.
Insurance Ombudsman Sam Parrino says the most significant increases were in home buildings and travel insurance, with home contents and motor vehicle insurance close behind.
Chief Ombudsman Colin Neave says these increases are not unexpected considering the current global financial circumstances and weather events.
“Given that this trend is likely to continue in the short term, I would ask all financial services providers to continue to invest in staff and systems to deal with complaints and to ensure that internal dispute resolution systems respond and so minimise the number of disputes which come to us,” he said.
FOS also welcomed Insurance Brokers Disputes Limited (IBD) to its ranks on January 1. The insurance broking division will consider disputes that were previously considered by IBD under much the same terms of reference and will be headed by Referee Belinda Lim.
General insurance disputes rose 33% while disputes in the investments, life insurance and superannuation sectors rose a whopping 85.5%.
Insurance Ombudsman Sam Parrino says the most significant increases were in home buildings and travel insurance, with home contents and motor vehicle insurance close behind.
Chief Ombudsman Colin Neave says these increases are not unexpected considering the current global financial circumstances and weather events.
“Given that this trend is likely to continue in the short term, I would ask all financial services providers to continue to invest in staff and systems to deal with complaints and to ensure that internal dispute resolution systems respond and so minimise the number of disputes which come to us,” he said.
FOS also welcomed Insurance Brokers Disputes Limited (IBD) to its ranks on January 1. The insurance broking division will consider disputes that were previously considered by IBD under much the same terms of reference and will be headed by Referee Belinda Lim.