Insurance costs soar

ONE of the nation’s biggest bank’s insurance arms is jacking up customers’ insurance premiums by more than 30 per cent.

ANZ’s insurance offshoot One Path has come under fire for unfairly increasing income insurance premiums at a time when institutions have come under intense scrutiny at the financial services Royal Commission.

Some of the nation’s biggest financial services providers have been slammed at the Commission hearings for gouging customers including charging them fees for no services and failing to act in the best interest of clients.

A One Path customer said he was “gobsmacked” when he received his annual premium renewal for income insurance, which jumped from $4368 to $5798, an increase of 33 per cent and insures the customer for an income of $13,500 per month.

“I have never claimed against this or any other income insurance policy,” the 53-year-old said.

In the renewal it blamed the policy which cover hike on a number of factors.

“We’ve adjusted our premium rates to ensure they better reflect the current environment of increasing claims across our industry,” the renewal statement said.

“While more claims means more customers are being supported at their time of need, it also means we have to make adjustments to continue to support our customers for many years to come.”