An insurance industry insider who spent a decade working behind the scenes has revealed the companies he would never trust with his own money, warning that Aussies risk being left stressed and out of pocket when disaster strikes.
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disaster → spend → pocket
Luke Dugdell spent 10 years working in risk and compliance teams at major banks and insurance companies, describing his former role as the 'internal police'.
But after climbing the corporate ladder, he became increasingly disillusioned with what he claims was the treatment of everyday Australians trying to get their insurance claims paid.
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claims → spend → Australians
After years of watching consumers 'being taken advantage of', he decided to walk away from the industry and fight for the people he once watched struggle.
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he → watch → people
Dugdell is now the founder and managing director of Claims Hero, a company that helps Aussies take on insurers when their claims are delayed, underpaid or denied.
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claims → manage → insurers
Speaking on the Karl Stefanovic Show, the former industry insider pulled no punches as he revealed the companies on his personal 'insurance hit list'.
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he → speak → list
At the top of his list were brands operated by insurance giant Auto & General, including Budget Direct, Qantas Insurance and Coles Insurance.
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brands → operate → Direct
'The ones that would be on my list, I think Auto & General, so Budget Direct, Qantas Insurance, Coles Insurance, those are the brands,' Dugdell told Stefanovic.
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Dugdell → think → Stefanovic
'They're just not an insurer that I personally would want to be with if I found myself in that situation.'
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I → want → situation
Luke Dugdell spent 10 years working in risk and compliance teams at major banks and insurance companies
Dugdell warned that one of the most troubling practices he had encountered was insurers withholding crucial information from customers, potentially leaving homeowners in the dark about problems with their properties.
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insurers → spend → properties
'The conduct that we see on some of the claims that we manage is that, you know, they have reports and information, and they just refuse to provide it to a consumer,' he said.
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he → see → consumer
He pointed to an ongoing case in which a homeowner was kept in the dark for two years about a document outlining restoration work that may have been needed to address mould at their property.
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that → point → property
'We only identified it two years later that they actually had that quote and scope, which is telling them likely that there was mould in the property and they needed to deal with it,' Dugdell said.
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Dugdell → identify → it
Despite repeated attempts to obtain the document, Dugdell claimed the insurer refused to hand it over, even when requests were made under the General Insurance Code of Practice and the Privacy Act.
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requests → repeat → Practice
'We'll request it under the code.
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We → request → code
We'll request it under the Privacy Act, and they'll say no, we're not giving you that,' he said.
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he → request → that
'And even as you go up the ranks, they just maintain that decision that there's no good reason to give that information to a consumer.'
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they → go → consumer
Dugdell did not identify the insurer involved in the case.
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Dugdell → identify → case
After years of watching consumers 'being taken advantage of', he decided to walk away from the industry and fight for the people he once watched struggle
Dugdell slammed the practice, arguing that insurers held too much power over customers who were often desperate to have their claims resolved.
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claims → watch → customers
'Withholding information from a consumer is just unconscionable because the power imbalances is massive.
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imbalances → withhold → consumer
That should be against the law,' he said.
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he → say → law
He called for tougher laws forcing insurance companies to hand over relevant documents, arguing that the current General Insurance Code of Practice allowed insurers to exploit a loophole.
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insurers → call → loophole
'It needs to be legislated that you have to disclose the information that you have to a consumer, not the current code that says "if we relied upon it",' he said.
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he → need → it
'It just gives them [insurance companies] an out.
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It → give → out
They go, "we didn't rely upon it, so we're not giving that information".
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we → go → information
But withholding documents was not the only tactic Dugdell took aim at.
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Dugdell → withhold → aim
He also raised concerns about vaguely worded 'good condition' clauses buried in insurance policies, claiming they could be used to avoid paying for repairs.
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they → raise → repairs
According to Dugdell, some insurers use the clauses to argue that a property has not been properly maintained, leaving homeowners facing a potentially enormous repair bill before their insurance claim can be resolved.
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claim → accord → bill
Dugdell also named QBE as an insurer on his 'hit list', particularly for its use of 'loss adjusters'
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Dugdell → name → adjusters
In some cases, he claimed, customers were being handed lists of maintenance work costing tens of thousands of dollars, even when the repairs were unnecessary or unrelated to their original claim.
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repairs → claim → claim
'The good condition terminology is so broad it just gives them basically the ability to not repair homes if they don't want to,' he said.
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he → give → homes
'Often the list that we have from consumers, and we just see these letters being sent every single time, could be tens of thousands of dollars on maintenance items that probably aren't required or don't need to be done.'
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that → have → items
Dugdell also took aim at insurance giant QBE, placing it on his 'hit list' over what he claimed was its reliance on 'loss adjusters' to keep claim costs down.
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he → take → costs
Loss adjusters are responsible for investigating insurance claims, inspecting property damage and reviewing repair quotes before advising insurers on how much they should pay.
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they → investigate → much
But Dugdell claimed the process could leave homeowners thousands of dollars out of pocket, alleging that some loss adjusters pressured builders to reduce their quotes.
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adjusters → claim → quotes
'We just see with insurers that rely heavily on loss adjusters that you know they're sort of trying to reduce those costs,' he said.
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he → see → costs
'I've seen it in reports where they'll go, a loss adjuster will take $7,000 out of a quote for a builder, or just go, "Could you remove that $7,000?"
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you → see → 7,000
And then they'll write to the insurer and say, "I saved you $7,000".
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I → write → 7,000
I'm like, "No, you didn't.
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you → do → ?
You just ripped off that consumer $7,000 because they should have been paid that".'
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they → rip → that
But his criticism of QBE did not stop there.
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criticism → stop → QBE
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
