Complaints to OLHI decrease in fiscal 2019

September 20, 2019 | Last updated on September 20, 2019
1 min read
Senior couple doing the income tax declaration online
© goodluz / 123RF Stock Photo

Canada’s OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance (OLHI) has released its 2019 annual report, which includes the insurance-resolution service’s key statistics.

For the fiscal year ended Mar. 31, 2019, the OLHI received 2,290 complaints, the report said, with Quebec having the most by volume (54.5%) followed by Ontario (about 26%, which is a drop of 2.6%). Last year there were 2,636 complaints.

The number of complaints decreased, at least in part, because general inquiries received by phone are now re-directed to the OLHI website, the report said.

Though complaints decreased, the overall number of contacts received increased almost 6% to 109,454, which the report said is a record.

Claims and service represented more than 80% of the complaints, followed by products at 9.5%. In the product category, disability-related complaints remained highest, at 36.6%, a slight decrease from last year’s 38.9%.

Retirement and investment products received the fewest complaints by volume, at 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively.

The OLHI opened 21 new investigations and closed 17 in fiscal 2019. By product, life insurance accounted for about one-third of new investigations, with disability accounting for the most of these (about 43%).

OLHI also recorded more than 107,000 website visitors, with 90,000 being new visitors. The increase represents a continuous trend since the OLHI’s website was implemented in 2009, the report said.

For full details, read the annual report from the OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance.