ASIC curbs phony pet insurance claims
Allianz Australia Limited has compensated 740 Petplan Australasia insurance customers over $231,000, after its agent promoted a 100 per cent rebate on veterinary bill claims that did not line up with a small print disclaimer.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) raised concern over the representation of the 100 per cent rebate, after a disclaimer qualified that the rebate excluded a fixed excess and non-claimable items. Petplan customers were lead to believe they were entitled to the full value of the rebate on claims for their bills.
This did not, however, include claims for older pets; in addition to a fixed excess of $150, a variable excess of 20 per cent exists for pets over eight years, which rises to 35 per cent for pets older than 10.
In the wake of ASIC raising its concerns, Allianz has agreed to remove all references to the 100 per cent rebate from the Petplan website, compensate policyholders and update the Petplan disclosure statement.
"Promotional claims that are made in absolute terms about a potential benefit must not create expectations that cannot be met," ASIC deputy chairman, Peter Kell, said.
"A misleading impression created by a headline claim cannot be corrected by a small print disclaimer."
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