ING reimburses about 51,000 policyholders

ING Insurance and ING Novex are reimbursing approximately 51,000 policyholders as a result of an error that prevented some of its Ontario customers from receiving their Claims Free Renewal (CFR) discount to which they were entitled.
The company rewards the discount at renewal to customers who have been claims-free for five consecutive years.
Most of ING’s customers properly received their CFR discount and so only a very small percentage of its customer base was affected by the problem, the company announced in a statement.
“The omission of the discount occurred as a result of an unfortunate and rare combination of system and processing errors,” said Debbie Coull-Cicchini, the chief operating officer for Ontario. “We sincerely regret this situation and we apologize to those Ontario customers affected by the error.
“We have implemented new processes to ensure that all our customers will receive the Claims Free Renewal discount to which they are entitled.”
The average reimbursement amounts to approximately $76.00 plus any applicable interest and sales tax. Customers affected by the error on their 2006 policies are in the process of receiving a credit on their current premiums equal to the amount of the discount.
For current and former customers affected by the omission of the CFR discount in previous years, the companies will be issuing refunds within the next few weeks.
The Financial Services Commission of Ontario has reviewed and agreed to this reimbursement process. Customers who have questions about the reimbursement process may contact their broker or call ING’s refund hotline toll-free at 1-877-217-7248.