Suncorp has hit back against union claims that thousands of jobs could be at risk if the company goes ahead with further offshoring, with a Suncorp spokesman describing the union’s comments as “ill-informed speculation”.

The comments, from Finance Sector Union (FSU) National Secretary Leon Carter, were made after Suncorp staff alerted the FSU that representatives from two Indian-based business process outsourcing firms, Genpact and World Network Services, had been requesting information from claims staff about the roles they perform to assess which jobs can be offshored.

The Indian companies are also believed to be preparing tenders to manage Suncorp’s offshoring program.

The spokesman admits Suncorp is using “external firms to help map our business processes” but says it is “too early to say what, if any, changes will be made to Suncorp’s operations as a result of this exploratory work”. A decision may still be months away.

“We have committed to keeping our employees and the FSU updated during this process,” the Suncorp spokesman said.

A meeting between Suncorp and union reps is scheduled for Thursday.

But the FSU claims Suncorp is withholding detail about its plans and staff morale at the insurer is suffering.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh weighed into the debate last week, telling the Courier Mail it is important that insurance claims are assessed by people with local knowledge.

“I think people do have an expectation that when you do pay your premium and you have a problem, even if you don’t end up getting the claim that you wanted, people will at least come out and give you some personal service,” she said.

In 2007 Suncorp sent some back-office work offshore and it currently has around 300 staff operating in India. But it reportedly put on hold plans in 2009 to move more jobs overseas.