John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The other query I have is in terms of transparency. To go back to what we have just been discussing, there are times when claims are denied where, in fact, the insurance company has not offered in its policy a great degree of transparency in terms of why a person might be refused. People make a claim under a section under which they believe they are covered and suddenly the insurance company comes with a questionable reason for denying the claim. The reading of the policy suggests a person is covered, but the company's interpretation thereafter denies the person the claim. There are instances where the ombudsman has received such complaints. I was at a small business forum recently and this was a particular issue. Some of the small businesses there had been denied continual insurance with the same company simply because they challenged it and the insurance company felt it had the financial and other clout to tell the businesses it would not continue their insurance if they persisted with it. Essentially this is the message and the ombudsman can deal with this.

Likewise, with regard to transparency, a financial adviser can give advice to a client about a particular product, which the client takes and proceeds to purchase the particular product, unaware of the fact the financial adviser is on both sides of the product. Does the ombudsman handle this type of complaint?