Who should I contact should I wish to report a problem with an insurance company?

The general insurance industry regulates itself. But there isn't just one place for you to go to find the regulator who can help you. When you take out Motor insurance, you should take the time to find out to which trade organization the insurance provider belongs to. It is to that organization you need to turn to if you want to complain about your insurance company.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI - www.abi.org.uk) has some of the insurance companies as members. The idea is that those members will try to follow a code of conduct that is set down for them. There is a chance though that you will feel grounds for grievance, in which case you can go to the ABI, who will escalate your complaint.

Another trade organization is the Insurers Brokers Registration Council (IBRC), which also has many insurance companies amongst its members. But the above two organizations have now been joined by a third.

The General Insurance Standards Council (GISC) has recently emerged and is becoming pre-eminent in the regulation of the insurance industry. The aim is for the GISC to be the first port of call when you have a complaint regarding the way an insurance policy was sold or any complaints about the policy's features.

But before you go to any of the above, you need to write to your insurance provider. The complaint must be clearly explained, and you should use chronology to help them understand what has happened to you regarding either service or possible mis-selling. Try and remember what was said to you by whom and when.

Your insurance company should have a recommended complaints procedure, so that if you are not satisfied with how they are dealing with you there is a route you can follow. Following this, there should be an independent complaints scheme that you can go to. BEFORE you take out a policy, check that the insurance provider actually belongs to an independent complaints scheme in the first place, because if they don't, stay away from them, because there is likely to be a reason for this oversight.

Complaints schemes fall into two categories, arbitration or ombudsman scheme. In arbitration, you come before an independent arbitrator, and they will decide who is in the right. However, you and the insurer need to commit to the decision. This means that you do not have recourse to court once the decision is made. This is not the same with the ombudsman, where you get an official decision that your insurer must abide by, but not you. Don't forget though that if you go to court it could be a lengthy and costly process, so be careful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© AskFinancially.com 2008

Motor Insurance

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