Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance has been issued a public warning for failing to deliver on advertised discounts for motor policies sold online and through vehicle dealerships.

The failure affected 5055 New Zealand customers who were overcharged almost $NZ700,000 ($604,977) over nine years. 

Aioi Nissay Dowa Management New Zealand – the subsidiary responsible for providing services to customers – notified the Financial Markers Authority of the matter in March 2024.

“Manual processes used to identify customers with more than one policy failed and customers eligible for discounts were not identified,” FMA executive director of response and enforcement Louise Unger said.

“This resulted in Aioi issuing incorrect invoices and contravening the fair dealing provisions set out in [the Financial Markets Conduct Act], with a significant number of customers impacted by the issue.”

Ms Unger says there is no evidence of deliberate misconduct, and the insurer self-reported three days after it became aware of the issue.

“In this case, Aioi acted responsibly in notifying FMA at its earliest opportunity … and we consider that a public warning is appropriate in this case,” she said.

“They have taken proactive steps to identify all affected policyholders, notify them and make remediation payments. They have also taken steps to prevent the issue reoccurring … and the root cause of the issue can be attributed to either poor controls or ineffective systems.”