GI complaints up by 22%

General insurance-related complaints to the Financial Services Ombudsman were up by more than a fifth in the second half of 2009.

The ombudsman’s bi-annual snapshot of grievances, published this morning, shows that the number of GI complaints was up from 24,609 to 30,062 between the beginning of July and the end of December – a rise of 22%.

The rise in GI complaints outstripped those for financial services overall which saw 82,136 new complaints in the final six months of last year– an increase of 18% on the 69,841 cases received in the first half of 2009.

Responding to the publication of the data, Association of British Insurers director of consumer strategy Maggie Craig said: “It is important for consumers to have clear and meaningful information about the performance of companies who manage their insurances and investments, including how they handle complaints.

“The ABI’s own data puts complaints into clearer perspective. For example, the actual number of motor insurance complaints referred to the FOS equated to one complaint per 4,100 motor policies; one complaint per 12,700 travel insurance policies, and one complaint for every 14,700 annuity contracts.

“Going forward, it is important for the FOS to adopt a similar approach when publishing its complaints data. This approach will help customers to make informed choices about an individual company’s performance, and provide the right incentive for individual firms to improve their performance as necessary