Cover-More has vehemently rejected misconduct and ‘cash for comment' allegations from rival insurance firm SureSave, branding the move to lodge a formal complaint by its competitor as "unnecessary and meaningless".
SureSave yesterday revealed it has reported Cover-More to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for a "range of assertions" about SureSave's product which it said were "factually incorrect and fundamentally misleading" (Travel Today, yesterday).
Cover-More group chief executive Peter Edwards dismissed SureSave's claims of questionable conduct, insisting it complied with required standards.
"We recently invited our customers to share their stories on the product review website in a promotion which complied with Australian regulatory requirements," he said. "These are real stories and real experiences from real people.
"The accusations that these are cash for comments is completely disrespectful to the Australians who shared their stories."
The allegations are "shabby, irresponsible behaviour", Edwards continued.
"SureSave…should be ashamed of themselves," he said.
He also rejected the allegations of misleading behaviour and said the claims were purely designed to damage Cover-More's reputation.
"Our lawyers responded to their claims last week," he said. "They are upset about an internal staff training document we prepared in September which showed the significant advantage of Cover-More travel insurance against other products in the market. It was factually correct at that point in time and was not intended for dissemination to travel agents."
