How to settle car insurance complaints through AFCA?
- Car Insurance,
- Sep 27, 2019
Remember back when in the school days, you and some other student got into a fight and in order to resolve it, you had to go to a head, principal, or a teacher in order to settle the dispute? Well, resolving the complications in adult life follows the same procedure as the one mentioned above, however, it is a bit difficult and complicated than that.
Since we are focusing primarily on the field of car insurance, we are going to deal with the example of an insurance dispute. Car insurance disputes are not that common but can arise at any time. Insurance companies can refrain from paying you your insurance money due to a number of reasons. These reasons can range anywhere from saying “it’s not that much of a damage” to accusing you of “insurance fraud”. Luckily, to avoid this kind of dispute, there is an organization called AFCA (Australian Financial Complaints Authority) which is formed just for this kind of issue. AFCA helps you by settling financial issues between you and your insurance company or basically any financial company that you have a complaint against.
How does AFCA help resolve your car insurance complaints?
Being a non-profit organization, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority helps you in a number of ways. However, before considering going to AFCA, you must try some other steps beforehand, otherwise, AFCA may deny your request right on the spot.
Consider doing the following before going to AFCA:
1- Come to an agreement with the insurer.
2- If the insurer has provided you with a reason for denial, verify whether or no that reason is legitimate.
3- Contact AFCA within two years of the insurance dispute after the final verdict of the insurer.
If you have performed the above-mentioned steps, you are eligible to contact AFCA. If you decide to contact AFCA, the organization will look into the matter in detail and get back in touch with you.
To explain their investigation, they scrutinize the following details:
1- Determine what the finance or car insurance provider has done to help you.
2- Determine whether or not the denial reason provided by the insurer was legitimate.
3- Find out whether or not the insurance company had given enough money to pay for all the repairs.
4- Look into the matter to find out which party is in the right.
Most of the times, AFCA rules in favor of the customer (i.e. you) instead of the company because they are impartial and if you are in the right, there is no force on earth that can stop you from getting what’s rightfully yours and AFCA makes sure that it helps you get that.
If AFCA finds out that you were wrongfully denied for your car insurance money, they might end up paying you a sum of money, compensating for what was lost, relieve you of a debt, or even changing or canceling a contract. However, you should know that AFCA can not help you in the cases which are currently undergoing a legal proceeding. Do not seek a legal solution before going to AFCA, always do it afterward in case you think that AFCA wronged you.
Why does AFCA help me?
It’s simple; AFCA is a non-profit organization based with a sole purpose to help people who have been wronged. It is their goal and their entire objective. They have to help you, otherwise, they will not be there. You should make the most out of it while you still can.
What are the steps AFCA takes after I submit the complaint?
When you submit your complaint, AFCA performs the following steps:
1- Primary Dispute Resolution: When you submit the complaint, AFCA contacts the insurer to come to a resolution with you and they have 21 days to do so if they have already done it, otherwise, they will be given 45 days. If you deny these resolutions because they are still not enough to cover your insurance cost, AFCA will step in to properly help you.
2- Investigation: AFCA performs a thorough investigation to find out which party is in the right as mentioned before.
3- Solution: AFCA provides you with a solution to your complaints, and generally, it is best to accept it since AFCA is not biased and will make a solution in favor of you. However, it is up to you and you can deny it. If you deny it, the only option you will have left with you is to file a lawsuit against the car insurance company.
How to contact AFCA?
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority can be contacted by visiting their website at www.afca.org.au and through their phone at 1800 931 678.