The Motor Traders’ Association of NSW (MTA NSW), an Employers Association representing thousands of automotive businesses in NSW, has welcomed a finding of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) as validation of the need for an independent consumer complaint handling authority for those experiencing difficulties with financial and insurance firms. MTA NSW supports the work done by our national body, the Motor Trades Association of Australia (MTAA), and the Australian Motor Body Repairers Association (AMBRA).
In this benchmark ruling, AFCA found that an insurance company was bound, under the terms of its policy, to settle a policyholder’s claim in accordance with the consumer’s preferred car repairer’s quote.
The car insurance policy entitled the policyholder to choose their own car repairer, but the policy also gave the insurer a discretion to determine how much it would pay for those repairs.
The insurer argued that the amount quoted by the preferred repairer was excessive and unreasonable and refused the policyholder’s claim. In arguing that the preferred repairer’s quote was excessive, the insurer relied on a quote from another car repairer which was substantially lower. But the insurer did not engage a qualified assessor to inspect the damaged vehicle.
AFCA found that the insurer had to exercise its discretion under the policy reasonably and in good faith. AFCA considered that it would have been reasonable for the insurer to engage a qualified assessor to inspect the damaged vehicle to assess the reasonable costs of repair and that a lower quote from another repairer was insufficient for this purpose.
AFCA went on to find that the insurer had not shown that the preferred repairer’s quote was, in fact, unreasonable and excessive. AFCA directed the insurer to pay the policyholder the amount quoted by her preferred repairer plus interest.
MTA NSW supports the
