CommInsure has appointed three independent members to its new Claims Review Panel, including two currently on panels and boards at the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
The appointees are:
– Chris McRae, a board member at FOS and financial services lawyer with over 30 years’ experience including as a past Chief Legal Officer at AMP;
– Professor Justin Malbon, a consumer representative on the Investments, Life Insurance & Superannuation panel for FOS and former member of the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal, and professor of law at Monash University;
– Dr Stan Goldstein, Head of Clinical Advisory at Bupa Australia and an Associate Professor (Conjoint) in Public Health and Community Medicine at UNSW.
The appointment of the independent members was made by CommInsure Managing Director, Helen Troup who stated “…the appointment of these independent experts further strengthens our decision-making processes for complex claims”.
The Claims Review Panel is a separate body from that reviewing previously denied claims and will, from this time on, review complex life insurance claims that have been recommended to be declined by CommInsure’s claims committee.
CommInsure said the panel would provide an independent review of each claim and will have at least two independent panel members, as well as the Managing Director of CommInsure, with further appointments to follow in the coming weeks.
Additionally, the work of the panel would be overseen by a sub-committee of the CommInsure Board which will be comprised of independent non-executive directors.
The insurer also stated that work was continuing on reviewing past denied claims and that it was seeking a new independent expert to oversee the review program and had also worked with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on the review program and the appointment of an expert.
Policy holders affected by these past denied claims have been notified of recent changes to trauma products definitions for heart attack and severe rheumatoid arthritis with coverage backdated to apply for all claim events from 11 May 2014 onwards.
