Enquiries to the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO Scheme) have broken records for three months in a row, due to the knock-on effects of the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.
The organisation received a record 569 enquiries in May, with March and April also reaching record numbers.
Ombudsman Karen Stevens says delays and customer service problems are currently the most frequent issues customers are contacting IFSO about, making up 35% of enquiries received since February.
She says while many enquiries concern insurance claims as a result of natural disasters, customers who have claims unrelated to these events are also being impacted by the volume of work insurers are experiencing.
“The IFSO Scheme understands insurers are prioritising claims, and that may mean an unrelated claim cannot be dealt with as quickly as it usually would be,” says Stevens
“Insurers have a responsibility to update customers every 20 business days, or at another agreed time interval, until their claim is resolved,” she says.
“And if there are vulnerable circumstances that need to be considered, insurers should be identifying and responding to customers on this basis.”