Complaints spark major insurance probe

THE Competition Authority is to conduct a major investigation of the insurance industry after it was revealed that complaints about insurance were the single largest category received by the organisation last year.

Competition Authority chief executive John Fingleton said the number of complaints reflected a “general malaise” among the public about insurance costs, although most did not identify any specific breaches of the Competition Act.

“People were concerned about issues ranging from lack of choice, rising prices, methods used by insurance companies for the assessment of risk to tied selling,” said Dr Fingleton.