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.