The complaints process

1

Initial response

Every MAS staff member can be the first responder to your complaint and conduct Stage 1 of the complaints process.

2

Escalated review

If the first responder is unable to resolve your complaint at Stage 1, their team leader, manager or the head of the relevant MAS business unit will conduct Stage 2 of the complaints process to investigate and attempt to resolve the complaint. Stage 2 involves a complete review of the complaint.

3

Committee review

Stage 3 of the complaint process is a review of the complaint by MAS' Complaints Committee.

If you'd like to give us feedback, you can do that here.

Complaint timeframes

If you make a complaint to us, we’ll:

  • acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 2 business days of receiving it.
  • respond to your complaint within 5 business days.
  • update you at least once every 10 business days (or another time interval we may agree with you) until your complaint is resolved.

Sometimes we may need more time to resolve a complaint, especially if we are waiting on information from third parties. When this happens we will keep you informed, and agree reasonable timeframes with you to keep you informed and keep a resolution to the complaint progressing.

What happens if the complaint is not resolved?

If your complaint remains unresolved, we will issuea letter of deadlock and you can refer your complaint to the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman* ("IFSO"). IFSO's contact details are: ifso.nz/contact-us, 0800 888 202.

Te reo Māori

Te reo Māori is an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand. MAS is committed to recognising te reo Māori and te ao Māori in meeting our objective of promoting the health of all New Zealanders. From time to time, MAS gets complaints about using te reo Māori in communications to Members. We acknowledge and respect your right to hold your view, but we won’t progress those complaints through our formal complaints processes. 

Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman ("IFSO")

IFSO is independent and external to MAS and free for you to access if a complaint has been raised with MAS and remains unresolved after MAS has run the complaint through MAS' internal complaints process.