Five fixes required
21 Jan 2018
Consumer NZ are making cleaning up the insurance industry a priority this year. They confident there'll be a review of the legislation which exempts the industry from the ban on unfair contract terms in the Fair Trading Act.
Five fixes have been identified by Consumer NZ which they think are needed to improve the insurance market for consumers.
1 Make cover clearer - insurers should be required to provide a one-page summary of core policy features, in a standard format, so it’s easier for consumers to compare what’s on offer.
2 Improve price transparency - follow overseas practice of having renewal notices contain the previous year’s premiums
3 Publish complaints - dispute resolution schemes should be required to publish data on which insurers are subject to the most complaints (and which complaints are upheld).
4 Fix unfair terms - Insurance policies were largely excluded from the 2015 changes to the Fair Trading Act banning unfair terms in consumer contracts, they should be included in the ban.
5 Deal with disclosure - follow other countries legislation to protect consumers in cases of accidental or innocent non-disclosure of material facts.
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