When is an apology not an apology? When fraud is committed but only a little bit and/or only a few customers lodge a complaint, and an insurance company is involved – this time it’s South African-owned Youi’s car insurance claim saga.
Youi has been in the media for all the wrong reasons recently: charging for policies without customer authority, misleading policy terms etc etc. Now they’ve issued a statement saying that it had given affected customers “individual, unreserved apologies”, had their policies cancelled, and had “refunds paid where money was debited”.
The insurer declined to confirm to media how many customers were affected but claims it is ‘minor’.
Earlier this year Youi pleaded guilty to offences in New Zealand, and has so far been fined $100,000 by the Insurance Council of New Zealand, and is expecting a further $350,000 for Commerce Commission charges, a recent Courier-Mail article said. It also stated that The Commerce Commission has filed 15 charges against Youi, including debiting customers without permission for unsolicited insurance policies, making misleading claims about customers’ ability to obtain online quotes, and imposing such restrictive policy clauses that car accident claims were much less likely to be successful.
Youi is currently being investigated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Accounts from Youi’s parent company, Outsurance, indicated how NZ staff had signed up customers to policies without their consent, and that Youi Australia “has experienced similar sales breaches as the two businesses share common call centre infrastructure,” The Courier-Mail reported.
Outsurance denied allegations that Youi had misleadingly sold policies to thousands of clients, and said it had issued “preventive and disciplinary actions” in Australia. A Youi spokesman said the Australian problems were revealed from a “mix of internal controls and customer feedback.” He also said “We obviously don’t review every call but every call is recorded so if we do become aware of an issue we can immediately look into it and resolve the issue”.
Crash Management isn’t convinced Youi, but good luck with your Commerce Commission defence. Meantime, we suggest customers stick with kiwi-owned and operated like PROTECTA INSURANCE for:
– genuine on-line quotes
– fast friendly service
– car accident claims honored and paid on time
– high quality collision repairs
– free courtesy vehicles
– 24/7 emergency accident response
– best value for money for a high quality product
VOTE PROTECTA INSURANCE!
Gary No Glitter
Yeah shame on another giant corporation ripping of kiwi customers. No amount of spin doctoring is gonna put that right now the cats out of the bag. Watch those flashy TV adds disappear. Your right about Protecta too, good to deal with and treat quality panelbeaters fairly. Didn’t know there were any kiwi owned insurance companies left though – cool! ANDOs another good one. Where are they from Crash?
Reg P
What a bunch of drop-kicks. How long did they think they’d get away without paying out on their car insurance claims in tiny NZ. We’ve never had a Youi job in our panelshop but I’ll consider myself warned! We get a few Protecta claims though and they seem good to deal with but like all insurance companys car claims are slow and need to speed up. Probably need a few more assessors on the job Protecta!
Leslie Franks
I agree, this is shameful, and reflects badly on the wider insurance sector. We look forward to the Commerce Commission ruling, companies like this have no place in the NZ market.
Leslie Franks
Also I meant to say Gary, Ando is also NZ owned & operated, they’re an agency so similar to Protecta Insurance in that regard. thanks L
Kerry
You insurance – NO, Protecter insurance – YES! Thanks Crash Management. It’s good to see independent reporting about insurance companies goings-on there wasn’t anything in the main stream media about it. Insurance company BIG money = media silence?
Jenni J
Good coverage of dodgy dealings in the insurance world. I see the Herald article today about this court case, Youi’s guilty of 15 fraud cases and fined over $300k. Further evidence if any was needed that we do not want or need dodgy South African insurance companies in NZ scamming kiwis. Goodby Youi.
Diana
Appalling. I understand more charges are pending against Youi Insurance too. Yet another VERY good reason to avoid the retail car insurance market and trust your assets with a reputable insurance broker!