Welcome to the first edition of The FOS Circular for 2018. The last year has proven to be an eventful one, with the announcement of the formation of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) and the Royal Commission into Australia’s banks and other financial services. ...READ MORE

Section 54 has been described by legal commentators as a broad remedial provision. It applies to contracts which permit an insurer to refuse to pay a claim because of some act or omission of the applicant or another person after the contract was entered into. When considering a d...READ MORE

Key determination - Costly home repairs resulted in additional damage The issue In 2007, Mr T made a claim with his insurance provider when a leaking pipe caused his home’s structural slab to shift. The insurer investigated, accepted and settled the claim as a total loss, paying ...READ MORE

We organise and attend numerous events every year. Over the next few months we will be in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth running various sessions for our Banking and Finance, Investments and Advice, Life Insurance and General Insurance members. Please visit our o...READ MORE

As an external dispute resolution service, we are committed to ensuring our free service is accessible to all Australians. This is especially significant for people in difficult or vulnerable circumstances. The FOS Access Working Group (FAWG) was formed to assess causes of any ba...READ MORE

In November 2017, we appointed a new Member Engagement Advisor to help us refocus our energy and efforts in better connecting with members. Our new advisor, Alison Morrow, has been with FOS for over nine years and has a diverse skillset in external dispute resolution, with roles ...READ MORE

During the last quarter of 2017, the FOS Board appointed Andrew Weinmann, Chris Liamos and Michael Brett Young as FOS Ombudsmen. In 2016-17, we accepted 22,475 disputes, which was almost 11% more than the previous year. Chris and Michael will help us manage the increase in accept...READ MORE

There have been two reportable incidents of non-compliance since the last update. As a result, between the commencement of our single Terms of Reference on 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2017, these are the latest figures for unpaid determinations: Forty FSPs who are unwilling or...READ MORE

The Code team is a separately operated and funded business unit of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) Australia. We support independent committees to monitor compliance with codes of practice in the Australian financial services industry to achieve service standards people can...READ MORE

Issue The client lodged a claim following tropical Cyclone Debbie in March 2017 under his business policy. A subsequent claim for flood damage to the business premises was denied by the insurer based on an exclusion of flood cover. The client alleged that he had previously reques...READ MORE

This article summarises some notable systemic issues that were identified during the December quarter of 2017. These de-identified matters were reported to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in accordance with our processes. An update on a selection of cu...READ MORE

Case 1 A household member was involved in a motor vehicle accident when driving the insured vehicle. The FSP declined the claim as the driver was not a nominated driver under the policy. The issue was whether a household member not nominated under a policy should be excluded from...READ MORE

Total disputes received by quarter We received 10,422 disputes in the October to December 2017 quarter. This is consistent with the previous quarter but is a 14% increase compared with the same quarter in 2016. Total disputes received by product line Most disputes received this...READ MORE