The Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme is pleased to advise that Hon Dr Duncan Webb, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, has approved the changes to the Terms of Reference (TOR) and Constitution. The final changes, as communicated in our previous update, have all been approved. The new TOR and Constitution will come into effect on 1 September 2023.

We would like to thank everyone who was involved in the feedback and work required to facilitate these changes. We look forward to seeing these changes implemented, improving the dispute resolution service the IFSO Scheme provides to its Participants and their customers.

Sue Suckling

IFSO Scheme Commission Chair

The key changes

Terms of Reference:

The Applicable Monetary Limit has been increased to $2,625 plus GST for claims relating to regular payments and $350,000 plus GST in other cases

The IFSO Scheme’s decision-making process has been clarified

The amount that can be awarded for special inconvenience has been increased to $5,000.

Constitution:

The process for selecting Commission Members has been amended to better reflect the current membership of the IFSO Scheme

Participants’ obligations to provide their customers with a “bona fide” complaints process have been clarified, including how they provide information to consumers.

Effective date

The new TOR and Constitution will come into effect on 1 September 2023. Any complaints "deadlocked" up to this date will be dealt with under the 2015 TOR, and any complaints "deadlocked" on or after this date will be dealt with under the 2023 TOR.

Final documents

Terms of Reference effective 1 September 2023
Constitution effective 1 September 2023

FAQs, checklist and resources

We have put together some Frequently Asked Questions, a checklist and resources to help you with the changes. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with Louise Peters, 04 917 5605 or louise@ifso.nz.