How to file a complaint about an insurer: FIDReC and the dispute process

Most insurance disputes never get near a court, and they do not need to. The Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre, known as FIDReC, exists specifically to resolve disagreements between consumers and financial institutions, including insurers, without the cost and delay of legal proceedings.

Try the insurer first

FIDReC generally requires that the financial institution has already had a chance to resolve the dispute with you directly before the case comes to FIDReC. In practice, this means your first step after a claim decision you disagree with, or a service issue with your insurer, is to raise it formally through the insurer's own complaints channel and give them a reasonable opportunity to respond. Keep a written record of this exchange, since FIDReC will want to see that this step happened.

What FIDReC can and cannot handle

FIDReC deals with disputes between consumers and its subscribing financial institutions, which include most insurers operating in Singapore. Consumers eligible to bring a case include individuals, sole proprietors, small businesses and charities with a customer relationship with the institution, as well as an insured person, a beneficiary, a trustee or personal representative, or a third party with coverage under someone else's insurance contract.

Not every kind of dispute qualifies. FIDReC's Terms of Reference exclude several categories, including commercial decisions by the institution, disputes purely about pricing policies such as interest rates or fees, cases turning solely on investment performance, and matters already under investigation by law enforcement, including allegations of fraud. If your complaint falls into one of these categories, FIDReC is not the right avenue and you would need to pursue it elsewhere.

The two-stage process

FIDReC's process has two stages. The first is mediation, where a mediator helps both sides work towards a settlement. There is no claim limit for mediation, meaning a dispute of any size can be mediated. If mediation does not produce a settlement, the consumer can choose to escalate the case to adjudication, the second and final stage, where an adjudicator decides the outcome.

Adjudication does have a claim limit. For claims filed before 1 July 2024, the limit is S$100,000 per claim; for claims filed on or after that date, it is S$150,000 per claim. If your dispute is above this limit, mediation is still available, but a binding adjudication decision above the cap is not.

Filing a complaint is free, and the outcome is your choice

There is no charge to bring a complaint to FIDReC. The whole process is also confidential and does not affect your legal rights, meaning going through FIDReC does not stop you from later pursuing the matter in court if you are unhappy with the outcome.

Crucially, an adjudication decision only becomes binding if you, the consumer, choose to accept it. If the adjudicator's decision goes in your favour and you accept it, it is binding on the financial institution, which must comply. If you disagree with the outcome, you are free to decline it and pursue the claim through the courts or another avenue instead. The financial institution does not have the same choice; once a consumer accepts an award, the institution is bound by it.

There is a separate, faster scheme for a specific type of dispute: the FIDReC Non-Injury Motor Accident Scheme handles disputes with an insurance company over non-injury motor accident claims below S$3,000, aimed at resolving smaller, more straightforward motor disputes quickly.

A modest fee arrangement can apply around adjudication, with the possibility of a partial refund to either party under FIDReC's prevailing refund rules, so it is worth checking the current fee and refund position when you file, rather than assuming it is identical to what a previous case may have involved.

What to prepare before filing

• Your correspondence with the insurer showing you raised the dispute and gave them a chance to respond.
• The policy documents and any claim decision letter or denial you received.
• A clear, chronological account of what happened and what outcome you are seeking.
• Confirmation that your dispute is not one of the excluded categories, such as a pure pricing or commercial decision.

Talk to an advisor

Not every disagreement with an insurer needs to go to FIDReC; many are resolved once a complaint is escalated properly within the insurer, or once an advisor helps clarify what the policy actually says. If a dispute has genuinely stalled, an advisor can help you prepare a clear case before you file. Find one through our advisor directory, or ask our assistant to help you understand a claim decision.

Sources

• FIDReC — Process
• FIDReC — FIDReC's Jurisdiction