What do you do when you are unhappy about the service you receive from your car insurance company? According to law all short-term insurance companies must have a complaints procedure in place. The insurance company must disclose the following details to their clients:

• The procedure to follow in case of a complaint
• Contact details of the insurance company’s complaint’s officer
• The contact details of the Short-term Insurance Ombudsman
• The contact details of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS) Ombudsman
• The Registrar of Short-term Insurance and the Financial Services Board.

The Short-term insurance ombudsman, as well as the FAIS ombudsman, has helped many policyholders in the past but you need to follow the procedure. Before you approach the ombudsman’s office you must lodge your complaint in writing with the insurance company. If you are not satisfied with the outcome you can take your complaint to the ombudsman. Just remember, there are also many cases where the ombudsman could not assist policyholders as they have not read the terms and conditions of their insurance contracts.

It is advisable to try and resolve the complaint at the first point of contact before you take further action. The websites of the Ombud’s offices will provide you with a wealth of information and advice. On the websites you will find a number of interesting car insurance cases to look at.

Short-term Insurance Ombudsman: www.osti.co.za

Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Ombudsman: www.faisombud.co.za