However, we don’t expect large corporations to suffer the same level of confusion – but that’s exactly what has happened with Axa.

Today Insurance Daily via our parent, Brite Media, received a travel insurance claim form from Axa, originally intended for Heath Lambert.

It contains personal customer details involved in the claim, for which Axa states falls under dual liability with Heath Lambert.

While I’m flattered that Brite Media is thought to own Heath Lambert, it is extraordinary that anyone at Axa could mistake Heath Lambert’s postal address to a completely different and unrelated company – and send private and detailed customer information to a news editor instead.

I called Axa on the number provided on the covering letter, and during a ten minute conversation with a person called Mike, he tried to stick to the line, “I’ll send it to the relevant department and send it to the correct address.”

After pushing hard to get Mike to escalate the issue, he eventually put me on hold to speak with a colleague, to which he then advised that I should destroy the document while they resend.

Perhaps sending customer claim details to a news editor doesn’t seem a big deal to Axa’s front line call centre staff, but I would much rather we not suddenly be deluged with post from Axa whenever they seek to correspond with Heath Lambert, or any other insurance company for that matter.

In the meantime, the irony is, the slogan accompanying the Axa logo states: “redefining service”.

That you are, Axa, that you are. :)

Chris Tabbitt, head of the property and casualty practice in the Global Risk Solutions division of JLT, says, “Information is king – clients need to ensure that they have good, relevant information and a full analysis of exposures and claims. Brokers must ensure this is presented to Insurers in a clear, accurate and professional manner.”

“Clients must invest more time with insurers and their brokers to take the relationship on to a more strategic level looking at emerging risks within their business sector. Clients should ensure limits and retentions are aligned to their exposures to avoid unnecessary spend, particularly in a world where some clients’ capital expenditure budgets are likely to reduce. At the same time insurers need to be even more transparent with their rating models to help clients focus their risk management activity to unlock insurers discounts and capacity.”

During the seminar Chris Tabbitt called for more stability and consistency in the market through initiatives, such as AIRMIC’s claims work, and for creativity around placement solutions including more robust long-term and evergreen deals. “Take out the volatility – don’t just sit there at the whim of the market,” he urged.

Chris Tabbitt concludes, “The primary insurance market continues to be very competitive. We share the widespread concern about prospective levels of economic activity and, although logic would suggest that recent insurance industry losses and adverse economic conditions should lead to a hardening in insurance rates during 2009, we have not as yet seen any sustained evidence of a cyclical turn other than perhaps in the Aviation and professional lines sectors and for catastrophe exposed energy risks”.

A third* of consumers who have taken out a loan with payment protection insurance during the past five years may fall foul of at least one ‘significant exclusion’ that would prevent them from making a successful claim.

People who are self employed or on a fixed term job contract, for example, often aren’t covered by PPI. Nor are many people aged 65 and over, or people who might claim for absences relating to pre-existing medical conditions.

PPI is sold alongside loans, credit cards, finance agreements and mortgages to cover repayments if people are off work because of illness or unemployment. Which? estimates that around six million PPI policies – about a third of the market – were attached to loans at the end of 2006.

Which? found that the average loan is £6,000**, with repayments mounting to £200 or more a month. However, ten per cent of people don’t know whether their loan is secured or unsecured, leaving them vulnerable to potentially losing their home.

Doug Taylor, Personal Finance Campaigner, Which? said:

“We’ve always known that people were being mis-sold PPI, but we were still amazed to discover the scale of it. It appears that salespeople are chasing their commissions, their bosses are chasing profits – where’s the sense of responsibility to the customer?
“If you have a loan and think you might have been mis-sold PPI, now’s the time to fight back. Compensation could be just a letter away.”

If you are unsure whether you have been mis-sold PPI, follow this simple checklist. If you can answer ‘no’ to one or more of these questions, then you may have been mis-sold:

> Optional Did the adviser make it clear that the insurance was optional (if this was the case)?

> Exclusions Did the adviser tell you about the ‘significant exclusions’ under the policy? For example, the exclusion that states you won’t be covered for any pre-existing medical condition?

> Paying for insurance up front If you took out a loan or finance agreement, did the adviser make it clear that you would have to pay for the insurance up front in a single payment?

> Borrowing to pay for insurance If you had to pay for the insurance as a single premium, did the adviser make it clear that the insurance cost would be added to the loan and you would be paying interest on it?

> Insurance expires before loan If your PPI policy expires before your loan or finance agreement does, you’ll be paying interest on insurance that is no longer in force. Did the adviser make this clear?

For more information on how to make a complaint and begin the process of claiming back your PPI, visit www.which.co.uk/ppi.

*In February and March 2008 Which? surveyed 579 people who had taken out a loan during the past five years and found that 32 per cent also purchased PPI and of those a further 32 per cent may fall foul of one or more of the ‘significant exclusions’ if they tried to claim. With approximately six million such policies, this equates to 1.9 million. Statistically, this puts the estimated figure between 1.7 and 2.1 million.

** The research also found that the overall average loan is for £6,050. One in ten people have a loan of £10,000 or more. The average secured loan is worth £7,190 compared to an unsecured loan average of £5,760. And 10 per cent of holders do not know if their loan is secured or unsecured.

Information on PPI

> PPI only pays out for a limited amount of time, usually 12 months, although some policies offer a 24 month pay-out period.

> Credit and store card PPI often covers only the minimum amount that must be paid each month.

> When sold alongside loans or finance agreements, PPI is sold as a ‘single premium policy’, which means a lump sum covering the cost of the insurance is added to the amount you have borrowed, so you end up paying interest on both the insurance premium and the loan.

> PPI policies last for just five years, so if your loan or finance agreement is for longer than this, you’ll still be paying interest on a policy that has long since expired.

For more information on how to make a complaint and begin the process of claiming back your PPI, visit www.which.co.uk/ppi.