Portugal's Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority (ASF) published its semiannual Complaints Management Report for the second half of 2024, compiling statistics on complaints made to supervised insurers and pension fund managers and those escalated to ASF. Complaints submitted to firms fell 4% versus the comparable period to 12,928, while 929 complaints were filed directly with ASF, broadly unchanged year on year. Across complaints directed to supervised entities, non-life insurance accounted for 92% (11,864), led by motor insurance (37% of all complaints) and, in aggregate, work accidents, personal accidents and health insurance (20%), followed by fire and other damage (16%). Life insurance represented 4% (567), with complaints down 39% year on year, and pension funds were 1% (90), mainly open pension funds (78% of pension-fund complaints). Claims handling remained the most complained-about topic for insurance (53% of concluded market complaints), followed by contract content and term (24%) and contract formation (11%); 44% of concluded complaints had outcomes favourable to the complainant, and the average operator response time was 9 working days (below the 20-working-day maximum set out in ASF’s conduct and complaints-handling rules). For complaints handled by ASF, 912 concluded cases with “effective matter” were analysed (94% of complaints reviewed in the semester), with the Consumer Portal the dominant intake channel (646), followed by email (193) and post (71). Non-life also led this caseload (82%), with motor insurance (39%) and fire and other damage (22%) the largest lines, while life insurance was 17% and pension funds 0.9%. Claims-related issues made up about 68% of concluded ASF cases, most often relating to definition of responsibilities (44.5%) and indemnification (27.0%); ASF recorded 29% favourable outcomes and 71% unfavourable outcomes, with legal or contractual justification cited in 65% of unfavourable responses and absent in 6%.

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