What To Do If You Have A Complaint

Our commitment to you

Affinity Insurance Brokers’ (Affinity) service standards are high and we strive to make our customers happy. That is why we are committed to delivering a valuable service to our customers.

Code of Practice

Affinity adopts the General Insurance Industry’s Code of Practice (“the Code”). The Code governs the way insurers operate and sets out the minimum standards we will uphold in the services we provide to you.

Privacy

Your privacy is important to us.

Affinity adheres to the National Privacy Principles of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). We are committed to ensuring that all our business dealings comply with the National Privacy Principles and acknowledge the importance of keeping individuals’ personal details confidential and secure.

How we will assist you

Affinity has a complaint resolution process in place, which is available to anyone who has a complaint against Affinity, our employees, Authorised Representatives or service providers.

This service is available nationally with all matters treated in confidence.

Our promise to you

All complaints and disputes will be handled in a fair, transparent and timely manner. We will only ask for and take into account relevant information when deciding on your complaint.

Your complaint will be referred to an appropriately authorised Senior Manager who will be able to assist you with your complaint.

We will make all efforts to resolve the complaint within fifteen (15) days from the date of your complaint.

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your complaint you may request that the decision be reviewed by another Affinity Senior Manager who has not previously been a party to your complaint.

If your complaint remains unresolved, you can request an independent review by the insurer’s Internal Dispute Resolution Committee (IDR Committee) which has the authority to deal with your dispute, examine the issue and advise you of its final decision within fifteen (15) working days from the date of your request.

We will keep you informed on how we handle your dispute and provide you with reasons for our decisions.
If we require further information to determine or resolve your complaint, then we will inform you of this and agree with you an appropriate time frame, keeping you informed of the progress.

In special circumstances, or where a claim is being or has been investigated, we may decline to release information, but we will not do so unreasonably. If your complaint is in connection with our refusal to release any document or detail from our files to you or any other party, then we will provide our reasons for that refusal in writing. If you are unhappy with our decision the matter can be referred to the insurer for review.

If the insurer is unable to resolve your dispute satisfactorily, we or the insurer will refer you to the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”), which is an independent external dispute resolution body approved by ASIC. FOS has the authority to deal with certain general insurance disputes and its determinations are binding on the insurer and us but are not binding on you. If you are unhappy with the decision made by FOS, you retain your rights to seek redress elsewhere, for example, by commencing proceedings in a court.

Further, if the insurer’s IDR Committee is unable to resolve your Privacy dispute satisfactorily, you may apply to the Federal Privacy Commissioner to have your complaint investigated. For more information about how you may lodge a complaint with the Federal Privacy Commissioner, you can contact the Commissioner’s hotline on 1300 363 992.

For further information on resolving a general insurance or privacy complaint you can contact us on (03) 8587 7777. Our office hours are 8.30 am to 5.00 pm weekdays.