The Financial Services Ombudsman has already received 5,200, or 28% more, complaints against credit institutions this year than it did last year. Complaints against insurance companies, at 2,850, up by 26%.
Today the ombudsman Joe Meade published complaints for the five months from July to November 2008 relating to the insurance sector. The ombudsman details 21 cases, 11 of which were upheld, and 10 rejected.
In its biggest settlement, the ombudsman ordered an insurance company to pay €325,000 in specified illness cover to a person who had been injured in an accident. He criticised the insurance company for not agreeing that the policy holder had lost independence following the accident.
The next biggest settlement was for €250,000. This arose when a customer said she was never advised that her investment of €250,000 in a UK Geared Property Fund was 'high risk'. This fund fell in value by €100,000 in one year.
Elsewhere, the ombudsman found that a reduction from 50% to 20% in no claims bonus for minor car damage was too harsh. The complaint was from a woman in her 70s who admitted bumping another car, but said she had not caused any damage. The ombudsman ruled that the loss of 30% no claims discount was too much, and reduced the loss to 5% for a year.
Among other cases the ombudsman found that a fall of €13,000 in a €100,000 investment after a year merited an award of €3,000. He also found that the cancellation of a holiday due to a pre-existing illness deserved a 50% award of £1,500 sterling.
