The Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO) saw a 21% increase in enquiries in the 12 months to 30 June 2024 – pushing the number of calls to its office to almost 5,000 – a 30-year record for the dispute resolution service.
Formal complaints were up 46% on the previous corresponding period, mainly due to last year’s extreme weather, says IFSO Ombudsman Karen Stevens.
Of the 479 complaints investigated by her office, 21% were about health, life or disability insurance. The remainder for general insurance (68%), and financial services such as loans or financial advice (11%).
While many enquiries were about the time insurers took to resolve claims, Stevens says insurers have taken less time than they did after the Christchurch earthquakes, “clearly, there have been lessons learnt and improvements made,” she says.
She also says the rising cost of insurance is becoming an issue for consumers.
“The increase in the cost of insurance was one of our top five enquiry issues this year,” she says. “This is unsurprising given the ongoing financial pressure on households.
“We have a limited ability to look at complaints about pricing of insurance.”
Scope of cover was the top issue for complaints investigated by the IFSO Scheme. Stevens says some issues were due to consumers not understanding what their policy covers.