Health insurance disputes fall

According to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), the level of complaints relating to income protection insurance and critical illness insurance dropped by 17 per cent over the course of 2006/2007.

In the Annual Review, the FOS also commented that disputes relating directly to health insurance comprised 12 per cent of the almost 16,000 insurance cases reviewed. Despite the positive decrease in medical insurance problems, the FOS stated that they remained in a state of concern regarding health disclosure.

The FOS commented: For many consumers, an application for critical illness and income protection policies has become an examination or a memory test, the results of which are only revealed if the consumer ever comes to make a claim. It seems unacceptable that many consumers are then left, at their time of greatest need, without the insurance cover they have paid for and relied on for many years.