Media Releases

Leading international psychiatrist Dr Grant Lester is today advising Canterbury insurers on how to manage difficult situations for the benefit of all customers.

This year the Insurance & Savings Ombudsman Scheme celebrates its 20th anniversary as a dispute resolution scheme. Our focus for members is how to improve business practices and avoid future complaints, says Insurance & Savings Ombudsman Karen Stevens.

Insurance & Savings Ombudsman, Karen Stevens, supports a law change to help consumers who accidentally leave out information when applying for insurance.

“Precious jewellery can be stolen, lost or damaged,” says Karen Stevens, Insurance & Savings Ombudsman. “As last night’s Fair Go story highlighted, sometimes when things go wrong, people end up being very disappointed with the result of their insurance claim. In fact, in the 20 years we have provided a free service to consumers, we have dealt with literally thousands of complaints.”

Karen Stevens, Insurance & Savings Ombudsman, advises residents affected by flooding in the wider Wellington region to call your insurance company before you start your clean up.

As the clean-up begins after severe flooding and weather damage, the advice from the Insurance & Savings Ombudsman, Karen Stevens, is to contact your insurance company and take photos of the damage before you start your clean up.

We are in the process of changing our name to become the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO Scheme). The new name more accurately reflects the range of financial service providers among our Participants.

The Insurance & Savings Ombudsman Scheme has dealt with 1,542 complaint enquiries and 138 complaint investigations about the Canterbury earthquakes since 2010.

As the clean-up begins after yesterday’s flooding in the East Coast, Insurance & Savings Ombudsman, Karen Stevens, advises residents to first contact their insurance company and take photos of the damage.

Twenty four incidents of theft from cars in Wellington over one weekend is a wake-up call for insurance customers, says Insurance & Savings Ombudsman, Karen Stevens.