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Who do I contact should I wish to report a
problem with a home insurance company?
The insurance
industry is self-regulating. This means that if you are complaining
about a home insurance
provider and you want to escalate it, you are escalating it to an
organization of which the insurance
company is a member.
That doesn’t mean the complaint will not be attended to properly.
It’s more that your complaints will be dealt with by people
who are experienced in the field of insurance.
The insurance industry itself needs to remain credible and clean
and clear in order for people to want to give it money.
First of all, when you choose your insurance
company, you need to make sure that it is a member organization
of at least one, but preferably all, of the following trade organizations.
If they are not a member, there is usually a reason for it. Have
they been expelled? Do they not want to be regulated? Whichever
one it is, if your insurance
company doesn’t belong to a regulatory trade organization,
your complaints will not go very far.
Should you wish to escalate a problem with your insurance company
you have a choice of two main organizations to go to.
First, there is the Insurance
Brokers Registration Council (IBRC). Many insurance
providers belong to this, and they aim to follow the code of conduct
that is set down for them. Should have a real grievance, it will
be taken on by the IBRC, which will take a number of steps to escalate
the complaint. This means your complaint will be handled by more
senior members of staff as it progresses.
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The other organization is the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
It is important you find out which organization your insurance
company belongs to so you know where to go.
These two organizations may soon be superseded by a new organization
called the General Insurance
Standards Council (GISC). This is slowly taking charge of the regulation
of the insurance industry.
In the first instance, you must complain directly to your insurance
provider in writing. So, for instance, if you feel you have been
miss-sold a policy, get down on paper exactly what happened, who
said what to you and when.
If you are not satisfied with the response of your insurance
company, you should then find out what they recommend as a complaints
procedure. You should follow that. The complaints scheme will fall
into two categories. An ombudsman scheme or an arbitration scheme.
The main difference is that both you and the insurer have to commit
to accepting the decision of an arbitrator, but only the insurer
has to commit to accept the decision of an ombudsman. So, if you
don’t think the ombudsman’s decision is right, you can
go to court, but it could be lengthy and costly.
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