An insurer has apologised to a transgender woman who criticised financial services companies over the challenges she faced trying to update her personal details.

Laura Mitchell says companies including banks did not appear to have correct policies in place and regularly misgendered her.

Speaking to the ABC, she described humiliating and time-consuming processes to change her details.

She said she had updated her driver’s licence and received a “recognised details certificate” from Births, Deaths and Marriages, reflecting her new name and gender. But making changes with companies including insurer Budget Direct proved problematic.

“ ‘We only recognise you as at birth, but it’s all good, we’ll put some notes on the system, so that we know your preferred pronouns,’ ” she said, recounting a conversation with the insurer.

“Well, that’s actually not good enough, because it’s still going to say Mr Laura Mitchell on the policy you’re going to send me. In the end, I complained about it, and then I got an email where it said, ‘Dear Mr Laura Mitchell, here is a record of your complaint.’ ”

Auto & General Insurance Company, which includes Budget Direct, says it apologised to Ms Mitchell and acted promptly to rectify the situation, with her policy details corrected within 24 hours, and new documentation issued.

“We are sincerely sorry for the poor experience Ms Mitchell faced when updating her details in connection to her Auto & General insurance policies. We recognise and regret the distress this caused, and we have apologised to Ms Mitchell,” the company said in a statement shared with insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“This was a customer service failure outside of our standard process that should not have occurred. The incident highlighted a gap in our customer service delivery and we have provided additional information to help all our consultants correctly assist our customers who wish to update their sex on their insurance policies.

“Auto & General is committed to providing an inclusive insurance experience for all of our customers, and we continue to review and update our policies, procedures and training for our team members to uphold and deliver these standards.”

Landing on best practice when serving the LGBTQIA+ community has challenged businesses.

In 2021, a survey of 500 people commissioned by the industry’s InterInsurance Group found widespread discrimination and exclusion, including misgendering, intrusive, outdated and offensive questioning, and denial of cover.

Peak bodies including the Insurance Council of Australia have been trying to address the issue.

ICA told insuranceNEWS.com.au it is reviewing the General Insurance Code of Practice, which “is there to protect customers. It sets the standards insurers must meet, so people are treated honestly, openly and fairly, especially when they need to make a claim.

“The draft General Insurance Code of Practice uplifts insurers’ commitments to providing extra care to customers who need it. 

“Section 7 of the draft code commits code subscribers to providing consumers with extra care that they have agreed with those consumers, where the consumer has been identified as or disclosed that they are experiencing vulnerability.”

ICA says while consultation on the updated code is under way, it would not be appropriate to pre-empt submissions or speculate on outcomes.