The financial services ombudsman has ordered Auto & General to pay $1500 compensation to a storm damage claimant for failing to respond to her requests for information.  

The claimant previously complained about the insurer’s claim denial, and the Australian Financial Complaints Authority ruled in her favour.  

During that process, she asked Auto & General for all information related to the claim, but she said the insurer did not provide recordings of four phone calls, despite her making three requests.  

She argued the insurer breached the General Insurance Code of Practice, which requires insurers to provide information used to assess a rejected claim.  

Auto & General said the recordings were not used in its decision-making process, and it had already accepted and settled the claim.

But the Australian Financial Complaints Authority finds the insurer did rely on the contents of the calls. The claims file “made clear reference to the information in these recordings”.  

AFCA says the insurer did not accept the claim until after the previous determination, in August last year. By then, the insured had filed her separate complaint.  

The ombudsman requested the recordings but did not receive “a clear answer as to why [the insurer] was opposed to providing the recording ... or could not produce them”.  

“I accept it was fair for the complainant to request the recordings and unfair for the insurer to have repeatedly refused her access to the recordings,” an AFCA ombudsman said.  

“The insurer’s failure to do so, and in the absence of any reasonable or persuasive explanation, did cause the complainant to experience unreasonable levels of stress, anxiety and delay.”  

See the ruling here.