Ombudsman handled 1,600 complaints

MORE THAN 1,600 people referred disputes with their insurers to the industry watchdog last year.

The ombudsman’s annual report, published yesterday, said the office saw the number of complaints largely unchanged on the previous year, while the number of phone calls fielded rose by 2% to 10,517.

Ombudsman Caroline Gill, whose office is funded by the insurance industry and has been in operation for 11 years, said 814 complaints and almost 5,500 phone calls had been registered in the first six months of 2004. The complaints involve disputes between policy holders and their insurance firms in respect of life, motor, home, travel and mobile phone insurance.

Life and motor insurance disputes were the most common, with each sector accounting for 30% of the total. Household and travel insurance complaints were next on the list, accounting for 10% each. 13% of cases fell outside the office’s terms of reference.

The ombudsman issued judgments in respect of 506 cases, or 30% of the total. The decision went in favour of the insurer in 58% of cases, while 42% of complaints were upheld. The average case was dealt with in approximately four months.

The annual report quoted amore than 20 sample cases dealt with by the office during the year. The ombudsman found in favour of the insurer in a case where a travel insurance policy holder returned home citing medical reasons after their outbound flight was diverted en route due to a technical fault. The insurer refunded the customer’s medical costs, but rejected a claim that the holiday was curtailed. The claimant had failed to meet the policy requirement to notify the insurer’s hotline and provide confirmation that the curtailment was medically necessary.

But the ombudsman found in favour of a policy holder whose car was written off after an accident and who disputed the value put on the car’s market value by the insurer. The ombudsman ordered the insurer to pay an extra €750 to the policy holder, saying she was satisfied that the market value suggested by the insurer was “inadequate.”

Ms Gill urged motorists to inform their insurer if they received penalty points and said insurers should amend their policy documents to take account of the new points regime. She also told drivers who had difficulty getting quotes for insurance that insurers were obliged to provide a quote to anyone who had approached three companies and been unsuccessful.