Australian insurance reports are riddled with errors and difficult to access, research finds

Insurance industry files used to decide whether to give customers coverage and how much to charge are riddled with errors, according to new research.

The FRLC said the reports, which currently cost $22 for consumers to obtain, should be free and the complicated process of applying for your file should be made simpler.

It has called on the industry to clean up its act and for the federal government to intervene to improve customer access to their own data, which the researchers found was difficult to obtain even from your own insurance company.

In addition, they said obtaining the report involved a multi-step process that involved filling out an insecure form in Microsoft Word format, which included text in four-point type and the Windings font used to display symbols, and emailing it back to a service provider.

The researchers found that after sending off the form it usually took three to four days to receive the report, but sometimes took as long as a month.

While privacy rules require companies to provide the information they hold on customers to them free of charge, the researchers found that actually getting the data was a difficult and bureaucratic process and produced inconsistent results.

MacRae said the industry needed to act quickly because it will soon become subject to consumer data right rules, which are designed to give consumers more access to and control over personal information about them held by companies. The rules already operate in the banking and utilities sectors.

An ICA spokesperson said the organisation welcomed the FRLC report and was already working on improving the IRS service.

Application times would be shorter under the CDR, the spokesperson said.