By Rebecca Styles
Research Lead | Hautū Rangahau
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) filed High Court proceedings against Medical Assurance Society (MAS) and its subsidiaries last week for breaches under the Financial Markets Conduct Act.
The FMA alleges MAS made several errors calculating multi-policy discounts, inflation adjustments and no-claims bonuses over an eight-year period (2014 to 2022).
The miscalculation of multi-policy discounts resulted in $3.3 million in overcharged premiums, while the errors in applying no-claim bonuses added up to $572,061.
The FMA also alleges the insurer underpaid some life and disability benefits by just over a $1m which affected about 104 customers.
MAS has co-operated with the FMA’s investigation and has reimbursed the affected customers.
It self-reported the errors which occurred, according to the FMA, because of data entry mistakes made by staff and deficiencies in its systems.
In a statement on its website, the insurer apologised for its errors and urged those who hadn’t claimed a refund to get in touch. Information about those who have yet to receive a refund is available on the MAS website.
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