THE number of complaints against the insurance industry has fallen sharply with the Insurance Ombudsman, Ms Paulyn Marrinan Quinn, reporting a 23 per cent drop in written complaints to her office last year.

The bulk of the 635 written complaints, however, continued to be in relation to the selling of life and investment products, and discrepancies about the actual surrender value of those policies, despite the introduction of industry codes of practice.

Other recurring complaints related to difficulties incurred by consumers when trying to claim on various policies, while poor administration was also frequently the cause of a complaint, according to Ms Marrinan Quinn. These type of complaints accounted for 79 per cent of all written complaints to her office last year.

In addition, a further 146 complaints were also made to the ombudsman about various insurance brokers. The office, however, is not empowered to arbitrate on these complaints, which have been referred to the brokers' regulatory body.

More than 100 complaints were also made against motor insurance companies, which predominantly related to premium rates, and the difficulties that some motorists, particularly young drivers encounter, when trying to take out motor insurance.

In 1996, a total of 662 cases were concluded by the ombudsman's office. Of these, 361 were resolved by either adjudication by the ombudsman or settled between the customer and the insurance company. The adjudication process made marginally more rulings in favour of the insurance companies (97) while 89 complaints were upheld.

Issuing her sixth annual report yesterday, Ms Marrinan Quinn, said that she was disappointed that some insurance companies have been slow to distribute information on the role of the ombudsman to its customers. Ms Marrinan Quinn urged them to make a greater effort to highlight the office as a place where customers can take their complaints.

While the number of written complaints was down last year, most of those received were, however, eligible for consideration and arbitration by the ombudsman. Ms Marrinan Quinn said three out of four complaints fell within her rem it and could be settled.

The ombudsman also urged that her office should form part of the debate in relation to the regulation of the insurance broking sector.