AFCA (Australian Financial Complaints Authority)

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is a free and independent ombudsman service established in 2018 to resolve disputes between consumers and financial services providers, including all types of insurance claims and policy disputes. AFCA replaced the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), Credit and Investments Ombudsman (CIO), and Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT). All AFSL holders, including insurers and brokers, must be AFCA members. Consumers can lodge complaints with AFCA after attempting to resolve issues through the insurer's Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process. AFCA has the power to award compensation up to $1,094,000 for insurance disputes (2024-25 limit) and can make binding determinations on insurers. The service covers all insurance types including life, health, home, motor, travel, and business insurance. AFCA's decisions consider legal principles, industry codes of practice, and what is fair in the circumstances. The scheme is funded by financial firms through membership fees and case fees.