Putting things right

How can I complete the remediation webform? 

If you have received an email or letter from us letting you know you are eligible for a refund, we may have asked you to confirm or provide us with further information such as your bank account details. 

If you haven’t already done so via the link in the email, you can provide those details using our online webform. You will be re-directed to a URL starting with communications.mas.co.nz/forms. 

To complete the form, you will need your Remediation Reference Number found in the email or letter we sent you.  

What is remediation?

We’ve been conducting reviews of our insurance products to make sure we’re delivering good customer outcomes.  

We’ve identified a few occasions where we have made some mistakes. These range from minor communications errors to more significant errors involving incorrectly calculated premiums or claims.  

Remediation involves correcting these mistakes and ensuring they don’t happen again. This may include refunding premiums we shouldn’t have charged or providing additional claim payments that we incorrectly underpaid, and may result in us paying additional amounts as compensation for inconvenience.  

Who might hear from us?​ Who is affected by remediation?  

If we discover a mistake that affects the insurance you have with us – or have held with us in the past – we will be in touch to explain what has happened, and how we are putting it right.  

We are contacting Members progressively, as we work through the various incidents we are looking to correct. Some Members may be contacted more than once. 

If you don’t hear anything from us, this means we haven’t found any errors with your policies and you don’t need to do anything.  If you have concerns and we have not contacted you, please get in touch with us via remediation@mas.co.nz. 

My friend/colleague got a remediation letter, why didn’t I? ​ 

These errors only affect some Members so not everyone will be contacted. However, it will take some time to work through our remediation programme so we may be in touch with you at a later date if we find an error.  

If you don’t hear anything from us, this means we haven’t found any errors with your policies.  

Will I have to pay back premiums if you undercharged me? ​ 

No. If we have made a mistake in your favour as to how we calculate your premiums, you don’t need to repay anything.  

However, we will correct this error, which might mean your premiums will be higher in future than they have been in the past. Any changes we make will take effect when your policy comes up for its annual renewal.  

Why is MAS finding errors? 

In 2019 and 2020, the Financial Markets Authority and Reserve Bank conducted reviews of the New Zealand insurance industry. The initial focus was on life insurance providers but a similar review was then carried out on the general insurance sector. 

As a result of these reviews we have identified the errors we are correcting now. These sorts of errors are not unique to MAS but are issues that most insurers grapple with, as policy wordings and application processes evolve over time, and we modify the systems we use to administer our policies. 

What is compensation and how does MAS calculate it?  ​ 

If we have overcharged a Member, we will refund the amount they have overpaid. In addition to this, we will pay compensation for the error, to recognise the inconvenience to our Members.  

We calculate compensation from the day our error occurred to 30 days after we send you notification of the refund. This gives you time to read the communication and respond with your bank account details (if we’ve asked you to) so we can make the payment.  

We use the civil debt interest calculation method to calculate the amount of compensation.   

How do I know my email/text from MAS is legitimate?  

We will be sending emails from remediation@mas.co.nz or mas@communications.mas.co.nz or claimsremediation@mas.co.nz. Please add these to your address book or safe senders list to avoid any emails being directed to your Spam folder.  

From our emails, you may be asked to provide your bank account details. We ask for your bank account details so that we can deposit your refund direct to your bank account. It is not possible to withdraw funds using someone’s bank account details and we will never ask you to provide credit or debit card details. If you find that you are asked to provide credit or debit card details, do not provide them and contact us immediately.  

SMS text messages will be sent from 3118. If you are in any doubt about communications you receive purporting to come from MAS, please call us to verify the communication is legitimate. You can call us on 0800 800 627. 

How can I trust that my bank account details are safe? 

We are only asking you to confirm your bank account details so we can be sure we are paying any refunds you may be owed into the right account.   

We will never ask you to provide any passwords or login details to these accounts.   

You can provide your bank account details via our online webform, which comes through directly to our Remediation Team. We do not share these details with anyone outside MAS and when you use our online webform you will be re-directed to a URL starting with communications.mas.co.nz/forms. Alternatively, you’re welcome to confirm your bank details by calling 0800 800 627 if you feel more comfortable doing so. 

Who can I talk to about my specific situation? 

If you have questions or concerns about your level of insurance cover, we recommend you give us a call on 0800 800 627. If you’d like to learn more about your remediation, please contact remediation@mas.co.nz 

Can I provide a different bank account? 

Yes. You can provide the details of a different bank account by using our online webform. Just make sure you have your remediation email handy, as it provides specific information you may need to refer to when providing your bank account details.   

When will I receive my refund? 

You should receive your refund within ten working days of when you provided your bank account details to us, or as otherwise advised by us in your remediation communication. If you haven’t received your refund within this timeframe, please contact us at remediation@mas.co.nz. 

Can I apply the refund to my policy or to someone else’s, or can I get it paid onto my credit card? 

Unfortunately, we can’t credit the refund elsewhere, or put it towards your premiums. The refund has to be paid into your bank account. 

Can I donate my refund to charity? 

You are welcome to donate your refund to charity if you wish but we cannot do this on your behalf.  

What happens if I don’t respond to your communications? 

If we have your current bank account details on file because you have an active policy with us, and you do not contact us to say you would prefer us to pay to a different bank account, we will process the payment to the bank account we identified in your initial communication. 

If we have asked you to provide or confirm your bank account details, but you have not responded to our communications, we will not be able to pay your refund, and as such it will enter our unclaimed monies process. 

Why have I received a text when the communication said that I didn’t need to do anything?

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to receive your refund, so we’ve advised some Members they don’t need to take any further action, as we will pay the refund into a NZ bank account we know you are currently using with us. We also want to make sure you have timely information, so for Members who have provided a mobile number we will send a text alert that you have been sent a communication containing information about a refund. If you have received the communication, read it, and do not need to take any further action, you can ignore the text message.

I’m entering my information into the webform but it is telling me it is incorrect.

Our webform is set up to validate each Member using the date of birth, or the primary mobile phone number provided to us.

If you are an organisation or hold a joint membership: we may not have a date of birth as there can be several named authorities on your membership. The primary mobile number may belong to one of these authorities.

If you are unable to validate your membership using the webform, please get in touch with us on 0800 800 627 or email remediation@mas.co.nz and we can support you to complete the webform. 

Can you split my refund and pay into different bank accounts?

No, we’re unable to split your refund to pay it into different bank accounts. However we can provide you with a breakdown of the refund by policy impacted on request, so that you can transfer part of your refund to a different bank account should you wish to once you’ve received your payment.