Sustainability Report 2012 - Generali Versicherung AG

Change in numberof complaints received 2009-20122010/20092011/2010 2012/201127.0% 20.6% 8.5%The data for the Czech Republic do not include informationrelating to Generali Pojišt'ovna, which is not available.In 2012, the number of complaints received by the Group’sinsurance companies increased by 8.5%, continuing theupward trend of last two years, but to a much lower extent.The incidence of complaints received is 20.5 for every 10,000policies taken out, which is reduced to 10.8 if we consideronly accepted complaints, i.e. those for which the validity ofthe complaint has been acknowledged. It should be notedthat, while recording an increase of 14.1% over the previousyear, accepted complaints account for a little over half of thosesubmitted (52.8%). Furthermore, although growing at an overalllevel, the number of complaints received in some countries hasdeclined sharply during the year: 37.8% in Austria and 10.7%in France.Accepted complaints are highly concentrated in geographicalterms: 80.8% of them relate to Germany where, in addition toclaims, dissatisfaction/malfunction reports are also recorded.Therefore, in the case of Germany and also in Spain, the increase in complaints is not mainly due to growing customerdissatisfaction, but rather to the increased openness of companies to listening and trying to resolve the problems andinefficiencies reported by clients.In the majority of cases (93%), complaints are made by the policyholder/insured party, while only 7% of complaints aremade by the injured party/beneficiary.Considering the main reasons for complaints, over half (57.6%; 71.8% in Germany) relate to administrative activities,mainly due to shortcomings in the service provided, difficulties experienced by clients in understanding the contractualdocumentation and/or statements, and excessively long processing times. 29% of complaints relate to settlements,where grievances were primarily due to payment delays or what were perceived to be insufficient amounts reimbursed.Settlements represent the area with the majority of dissatisfied clients in Switzerland (94.8%), Spain (64.2%), Italy (59.6%)and France (57.1%) while, in Austria, only 1.8% of complaints relate to that area. Overall, the underwriting area received thefewest complaints (13.4% of the total, with a peak of 42.1% in Austria and 35.8% in France), relating mainly to inefficienciesin the service offered by the sales staff and client expectations of products not being met.Insurance disputesAs at 31 December 2012, in the countries in the Sustainability Report area, the Group was involved in 152,495 disputesrelating to its insurance business, all of which are currently in different phases of resolution. The number of disputesincludes passive litigation, in which the Generali Group companies are the defendants, and cases where Group companieshave initiated proceedings.Passive insurance disputesCountry Number of disputes Value of disputes (thousand euros)2011 2012 2011 2012Italy 54,230 57,943 3,054,803 3,176,344Austria 2,944 2,944 117,057 127,456Czech Republic 1,838 1,889 89,199 85,250France 3,845 3,600 254,116 233,169Germany 13,870 13,742 261,651 351,118Spain 18,460 20,950 265,688 267,587Switzerland 153 129 34,179 35,012TOTAL 95,340 101,197 4,076,692 4,275,937The number of pending passive disputes, totalling 101,197, increased by 6.1%, mainly due to motor insurance disputes (accountingfor 65.7%) and, to a lesser extent, general liability risks (21%).In the motor LoB, an increase of 8.3% was recorded, while disputes relating to general liability risks decreased by 2.9%.With regard to the value of disputes, herein taken to be the amount requested by claimants, there was an overall increase of 4.9%due to the increase in general liability risks (+4.5%) while the value of disputes related to the motor LoB fell by 3.3%.102 | Assicurazioni Generali - Sustainability Report 2012