Allianz Australia Insurance and Allianz Australia Life Insurance have refunded over $1.4 million to approximately 20,000 customers.
The refund comes after Allianz notified the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) of two breaches of financial services law in 2013.
Allianz advised it failed to refund stamp duty amounts owed to customers with consumer credit insurance policies. The policies were arranged by four of Allianz’s financial institution agents and affected policies issued since around 2003.
The second breach involved the overcharging of 2591 customers who paid their insurance premium by monthly instalments. Since 2001, some customers had continued to be charged higher instalments by Allianz, despite having reduced their level of cover which resulted in a lower premium payable.
“Allianz has taken its breach reporting obligations seriously in this matter. Breach reporting is an important part of the regulatory framework, as it helps ASIC identify compliance problems and ensure consumer redress where necessary,” ASIC said.
