What does the data say about consumers?
Judge Ron McLaren is in favour of transparency when it comes to complaints data, hoping it will motivate the industry to improve service.
Ombudsman schemes used to be on the periphery of financial services, but they are now viewed as being integral to financial services, Ombudsman of Long-term Insurance Ron McLaren explained.
“Complaints are getting increasingly complex and complainants are becoming more demanding and persistent in pursuing their complaints.”
McLaren said that most of the complaints that the office received during 2013 related to poor communication and claims which insurers had declined. Others were also about dissatisfaction around values and lapsing of long-term insurance policies.
He further detailed that there is a growing use of social media to resolve such complaints.
“People are using social media to voice their dissatisfaction with financial institutions and it is increasingly being seen as an alternative to the more traditional forms of consumer recourse.
“Financial institutions tend to react swiftly to social media complaints because of the threat of negative publicity, which in turn encourages the use of this as a medium for complaint resolution.
“Ultimately, what complainants want is fair resolutions from financial institutions — not just a reliance on legal or contractual grounds.”
