AAMI's passion for doing the right thing permeates all aspects of AAMI's behaviour. This is no more evident than in the AAMI Customer Charter.

This Charter enables customers and staff to request a $30 penalty against the company whenever they believe we have breached a Charter promise - while not financially large in its own right, the potential impact of this provision is great, considering AAMI more than 2 million customers and receives approximately 5.5 million calls per annum, answered in person.

AAMI people are vigilant about upholding the standards enshrined in the AAMI Customer Charter - more than 90 per cent of penalty payments to customers are initiated by staff, which reflects AAMI's no-blame culture.

Performance against the AAMI Customer Charter

AAMI's performance and compliance with the Charter is independently audited and publicly reported in the AAMI Customer Charter Annual Report.

During the past seven years, the percentage of penalty payments initiated by staff has increased from 70 per cent in 1996-97 to 95 per cent during the past three years.

Dispute resolution

Promise 15 in the AAMI Customer Charter commits AAMI to providing a free and accessible consumer appeals service led by the AAMI Customer Ombudsman. This service provides an internal dispute resolution process and help for customers if they are dissatisfied in their dealings with AAMI. Customers may also appeal to the Insurance Ombudsman Service (formerly Insurance Enquiries and Complaints Limited or IEC Ltd), a national service that assists in resolving disputes between consumers and insurers or other financial service providers that are members.

Since 1997, AAMI has published annually the results of its internal and external dispute resolutions. Currently, AAMI is the only insurer to place its internal and external dispute figures in the public domain and has called on other insurers to do so. AAMI considers this information to be important, as it brings scrutiny and accountability, which helps to develop an internal culture of understanding customers' needs and service delivery.

During the past four years, AAMI's claims volume has increased in line with growth in the number of policies. At the same time, the percentage of matters referred to the Insurance Ombudsman Service or IOS (formerly IEC Ltd) has decreased. Of the complaints referred to the IEC/IOS, AAMI's success rate during the past four years continues to exceed the industry average.

In 2004, AAMI's Customer Ombudsman reviewed approximately 1000 customer disputes. Approximately one-quarter of those reviews resulted in the decision being overturned or varied in the customer's favour. During 2004, the IOS reviewed approximately 170 of AAMI's decisions. It found in the customer's favour in approximately 60 of those cases.

Given that AAMI has approximately 2 million customers who hold nearly 3 million policies, receives more than 8.5 million calls per annum and handles over 250,000 car and home insurance claims per annum, the number of disputes is very low and AAMI's management of disputes exceeds industry performance.

It is due to the efforts and ingenuity of AAMI people, the company has succeeded in meeting the needs of all its stakeholders and grown to become a successful, profitable company.