The General Insurance Code Governance Committee (CGC) has penalised AIG Australia for breaching its obligations to tell customers their complaints were delayed or that they had the right to take their complaint to the ombudsman.
In a media release today, the CGC said the penalty included a $30,000 “community benefit payment” to a charity that supports consumers impacted by “similar issues.”
The release said that over several years, AIG Australia denied hundreds of customers “essential information” leaving many “in limbo waiting for updates that never came.”
The CGC said these repeated failures were a serious breaches of the Code of Practice.
“These sanctions are important – they are about holding AIGAL accountable for its failings and lifting standards across the industry,” said Veronique Ingram (main picture), the CGC’s chair. “When complaints aren’t handled properly, it affects trust in the insurer and in the industry as a whole.”
Additionally, the release said AIG Australia was unable to confirm when the issue first reoccurred between 2022 and 2024.
“This showed a breakdown in governance and in the systems needed to manage complaints well and meet the Code’s standards,” said Ingram. “It was not a one-off mistake.”
The release said the insurer has now taken steps to contact affected customers and restore processes but these actions come too late, “with the issue going unidentified and unaddressed for up to two years.”
