Editorial: Youi cop it for dodgy dealings

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

SAD to say, it comes as no great surprise to learn that Youi has been fined $320,000 on 15 charges of using misleading sales techniques.

There is that old maxim -- "If it sounds dodgy and it looks dodgy and it smells dodgy..."

Youi is a Johnny-come-lately to the New Zealand insurance scene, and there have been a few of them in recent times.

There was something about the company's extensive TV advertising campaign that didn't ring true.

It was condescending; it was overly sincere.

"We get you!" they said. And they did -- they got quite a few people by discreetly selling them insurance policies when the caller was only asking for a quote.

Hats off to Auckland financial journalist Diana Clement who brought matters to light after being one of Youi's victims.

She asked for an insurance quote and then found her bank balance had had $592 taken from it to pay for a policy she did not want. She'd been Youi-ed!

Her emails to the company were ignored -- a standard tactic by such organisations -- and the company then, predictably, blamed a "rogue employee".

Clement: "That was clearly, in my view, a lie because it happened over and over."

Youi got off lightly with a sympathetic judge only fining them $320,000. There is a lot of money to be made in the insurance racket, so they won't be too worried.

But this serves as a reminder of the more dubious aspects of insurance, particularly when cheaper-than-cheap newcomers appear on the scene.

When the pressure for profits turns the heat up, the insurance industry seems to be down there with the banks on matters of trustworthiness.