Claimant advocate Luke Dugdell has riled major insurers by going on former TV presenter Karl Stefanovic’s podcast to attack industry practices and name and shame some companies.

The show – in which Claims Hero founder Mr Dugdell slams claims handling standards and reveals a “hit list” of poor performers – has been viewed on YouTube almost 90,000 times in five days and followed up by the Daily Mail. 

Mr Dugdell tells Mr Stefanovic consumers are “being taken advantage of” and worn down by insurer conduct. He says contractors are often underpaid, which leads to poor repairs, and low-ball cash settlements are common.

He names Auto & General as an insurer he would avoid, alleging the company withholds information from claimants, and adds QBE to that list for relying too heavily on loss adjusters that are “there to minimise the cost for the insurer”.

But the insurers have rebutted the claims.

“We believe these assertions do not accurately reflect QBE’s claims practices,” a spokesperson told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“QBE is committed to treating customers fairly and respectfully, and ensuring claims are assessed on their individual circumstances and in line with the terms of the relevant policy.”

Auto & General says it rejects its depiction in the podcast, and returns fire on Mr Dugdell’s company.

“Claims Hero is a for-profit claims management business that is driving up the cost of general insurance for Australians,” a spokesperson said.

“Since Claims Hero’s inception in 2022, Auto & General has resolved hundreds of thousands of claims for Australians. Over the same period, Auto & General has responded to nine claims where Claims Hero acted as a claims management company for the customer.

“It does not have a sufficient basis for its comments. We are disappointed that Mr Stefanovic's podcast did not explore the issues of how Claims Hero is paid. We welcome the fact that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has recently announced that it will review the practices of for-profit disaster chasers.”

The spokesperson says Auto & General meets its obligations under the General Insurance Code of Practice and the Privacy Act in relation to requests to provide claims documentation.

“Since 2007, Auto & General, via its related brands, is Australia’s most award-winning general insurer.  A mark of confidence our customers can have in Auto & General is that we have paid out over $2 billion on car and home insurance claims in the last 12 months.”

Mr Dugdell told insuranceNEWS.com.au he has no issue discussing how Claims Hero is paid, which is always transparently disclosed to customers, but the questions on the podcast were not decided by him.

He says Claims Hero helped Mr Stefanovic with a claim, which is how he was invited onto the show, and that he intends to return for “part two”.

Mr Dugdell adds he has done “extensive research” on insurance companies and stands by his assertions.

He says his motivation for speaking out is to improve practices, and that industry professionals he has spoken to have been supportive of his comments. He also says his company cannot be described as a disaster chaser as it does not lodge claims, but helps customers with claims already under way.

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