Resolving disputes with insurance brokers
<p>If you’ve ever in the past been in a situation where you’ve had to make an insurance claims, odds are at some point you would’ve had to deal with an insurance broker.</p>
<p>Insurance brokers are industry professionals who are asked to act on the behalf of clients, providing advice that’s designed to be in the client’s best interests. Sometimes, a broker may act as an agent of the insurer, but if this is indeed the case it will be explained to you.</p>
<p>We’re going to take a look at how to deal with an insurance broker that’s being difficult. By taking the right approach you can ensure you’re not taken for a ride.</p>
<p><strong>Take the dispute to the broker</strong></p>
<p>All insurance brokers should have an internal complaints and disputes handling process. If you have any concerns about the services being offered by your insurance broker, it’s best to use this as the first port of call. These processes generally have mechanisms in place that can sometimes ensure your disputes are dealt with, with a minimum of fuss.</p>
<p><strong>Escalate the dispute to the Financial Ombudsman Service</strong></p>
<p>If you’ve tried to achieve a result through the above and feel as though you’re getting nowhere, the next best port of call is the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).</p>
<p>The FOS offers a free and independent external dispute resolution process, where it can examine the dispute and seek a resolution with the insurance broker.</p>
<p>If after all this a resolution cannot be achieve, <a href="http://www.understandinsurance.com.au/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Understand Insurance</span></strong></a> notes, “FOS can make a determination imposing binding sanctions on an insurance broker after considering the available evidence. While the above process is designed to make things easier for you, you still have your normal legal rights regarding any dispute.”</p>
<p>Have you ever had to deal with a hairy situation with an insurer?</p>
<p>Let us know in the comments.</p>
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