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Consumers get R116 million back from insurers: Ombud

Car insurance is a hot issue for the Ombudsman for Short-Term Insurance. Speaking at the release of the office’s 2014 annual results‚ Ombudsman Dennis Jooste said 10‚253 complaints against short-term insurance companies were received‚ an increase of 9.5% over the prior year.

The office returned more than R116 million to consumers last year‚ it said in a statement.

The highest numbers of complaints were related to motor insurance (46‚9%); houseowner’s policies (20‚9%); householder’s cover (8‚2%) and commercial insurance (6‚6%).

“There’s no doubt that consumers are under economic stress and in this type of environment file more complaints against insurers‚” said Jooste.

However‚ the number of complaints received by the office per 1‚000 claims received by insurers‚ had remained a constant three complaints for every 1‚000 claims submitted to insurers during 2014‚ said Jooste. Furthermore‚ complaints resolved with some additional benefit to the consumer reduced to 31% of total complaints‚ showing a continuing decline over the past few years.

Initiatives such as insurers implementing ‘treating customers fairly’ principles and the publication of insurer statistics identifying insurers who attract a disproportionate number of complaints probably also had a positive impact on the way insurers deal with complaints from their customers‚ the ombud’s office said.

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