General insurance complaints jumped 50% to 27,924 in the year to June, with claim handling delays again the top issue complained about at 28% of the total, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) says.
The latest report card from the dispute resolution service says claim amount complaints came next, at 20%, followed by denials of claims due to exclusions or conditions, which made up 17% of the total complaints for the year.
“We saw a marked increase in general insurance complaints. There was a notable increase in complaints about insurers’ services, along with a general increase in other areas such as claim denials,” AFCA said.
“Delays resulted in increased complaints about insurers’ services, primarily driven by ineffective communication with policy holders.