The Insurance Ombudsman Service (IOS) has released details of disputes between insurance companies and consumers for the first time. It’s a big step forward by general insurers, which have for years resisted calls for the service to release details of disputes.

Ombudsman Sam Parrino says the period covers the year ended June 30 last year and is an important step in the industry’s continuing drive to introduce greater transparency to the insurance process.

But he has warned against “trying to extrapolate too much” from the information.

“Insurers have vastly different market shares,” he said. “For example, the top five insurers hold more than 80% of the market, so the percentage of claims in which an insurer is involved has to be regarded against that figure.”

He says some insurers have relatively tiny market shares, so that even one or two disputes can see their performance in relation to claims disputes feature at the top of the list.

Mr Parrino says it is not commercially feasible to publish the number of policies held by each insurance company but the figures should nevertheless give a clear indication of the relative claims performance of each insurer.

“We will monitor the community’s reception to the figures, because we would like to make this a periodical publication. The Insurance Ombudsman Service is there to promote transparency and openness.”

The percentage of total claims made against individual companies compared to the number of policies they issue is on average 9.91%, with the highest 40.88% and the lowest 1.13%.

The percentage of total disputes referred to internal disputes resolution processes within insurance companies, compared to the number of claims, is on average 1.77% of policies, while the highest is 69.23%.

The percentage of disputes referred to IOS, compared with the total disputes referred to the companies’ internal dispute resolution processes, is on average 22.2%. The highest figure of 166.7% relates to an insurer in run-off.

Of the percentage of disputes referred to IOS that were found in favour of the consumer the highest percentage was 100% while the average is 35.04%. And 14 insurers managed the ultimate – no overturned decisions.