Broker complaints double in a year
New Zealanders are being urged to take care when switching insurance providers.
In its 2014/15 annual report, dispute resolution scheme Financial Service Complaints Ltd said it had investigated a number of complaints during the year arising from consumers being sold replacement insurance " usually life, health or income protection " by an insurance adviser.
FSCL chief executive officer Susan Taylor said it underlined why it was important that consumers understand the potential costs and pitfalls of changing insurance provider, particularly where they have a pre-existing medical condition.
Ms Taylor said that while insurers continued to attract the most complaints to FSCL, the number of cases it had investigated into insurance brokers had nearly doubled in the last year, with cases involving financial and insurance advisers also increasing.