Significant increase in insurance complaints: AFM report

Consumers in the Netherlands have complained increasingly about their insurers over the past few years, particularly regarding claims handling and payouts. Last year, 155 insurance companies received 136,000 complaints, an increase of 8.2 percent compared to the previous year, according to a report by the Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) following an investigation. In 2021, there was actually a decrease in the number of complaints.

Last year, consumers complained much more frequently about their travel insurance, with a surge of 41 percent. This was followed by car insurance, which saw an increase of 33.1 percent, and home insurance, which increased by 31 percent. According to researchers, the time taken to resolve a complaint has also extended. While in 2021, it took an average of 19.3 days, this figure rose to 23.5 days in 2022.

About half of the complaints (63,000) were related to health insurance. This was also the case in the previous year. The AFM's annual research is conducted among all insurance providers in the Netherlands.

The increase in complaints compared to the last two years is attributed by the Dutch Association of Insurers to the fact that there were fewer accidents and less travel during the years of the pandemic. After a decrease in 2020 and 2021, the number of complaints in 2022 is about 20 percent lower than in 2019. "Mobility and travel, for instance, increased again last year following the two years impacted by the pandemic, alongside natural growth, which is also reflected in the number of complaints," a spokesperson stated.