How to Complain When an Insurance Claim Is Refused

If an insurance company has refused your claim, there is a federal office that will take the dispute for free, and most people have never heard of it. It is not the courts, you do not need a lawyer, and the helpline is 1082.

The office is the Federal Insurance Ombudsman. We read its site at fio.gov.pk on 30 August 2026, and the detail below is taken from there.

What the office is, and what it can look at

The Federal Insurance Ombudsman describes itself as an independent and specialised institution established to provide a forum for resolving disputes between policyholders and insurance companies.

It operates under the Insurance Ordinance, 2000 and the Federal Ombudsmen Institutional Reforms Act, 2013, and its stated job is to investigate allegations of maladministration by insurance companies and decide the matter. Its functions include investigating complaints filed by policyholders and recommending solutions.

The word that matters there is maladministration. This is a forum for how the insurer behaved, not a place to argue that you would prefer a different policy.

It is free, and it targets sixty days

The site states that complainants receive speedy, hassle free and cost free relief, and that the complaint registration system has been fully digitalised so complaints can be filed online.

Its own news section records that directions have been given to all advisors and consultants to dispose of complaints within sixty days. Treat that as the office's internal target rather than a guarantee, but it tells you the order of magnitude to expect.

Write to the insurer first

This is reported rather than read on the ombudsman's own pages, and we flag it as such. The usual sequence described elsewhere is that you complain to the insurance company in writing first, and approach the ombudsman if there is no satisfactory reply within about a month, with a limit of roughly three months after that to file.

We could not confirm those periods on the office's own site, so treat them as a guide and confirm on 1082 before you rely on a date. What is not in doubt is that the written complaint to the insurer comes first, because it is what creates the record the ombudsman will examine.

1. Write to the insurance company setting out the claim and what was refused.
2. Keep the policy document, the claim form and every reply.
3. Ask the insurer for its refusal in writing, with reasons.
4. Note the date of each letter, because the clock runs from them.
5. File with the ombudsman online, or ring 1082 to ask how.

The refusal in writing is the single most useful document you can obtain. A verbal refusal at a counter gives you nothing to put in front of anybody, and an insurer that will not put a reason in writing has told you something in itself.

The complaint is made on oath

One procedural point is worth preparing for. A complaint to this office is made on solemn affirmation or oath in writing, addressed to the Federal Insurance Ombudsman, setting out the full particulars of the matter along with your name and address.

That is the same discipline the Banking Mohtasib applies, where the form must be attested by an Oath Commissioner. Budget a little time for it rather than discovering it on the day, and set out your facts and dates plainly, because a complaint made on oath is not the place for anything you cannot evidence.

Which ombudsman is yours

The site explains the structure, and it is useful because people frequently write to the wrong office and lose weeks. After the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat was established in 1983, the federal government set up four more task specific federal ombudsmen, covering insurance, banking, tax, and harassment against women at the workplace.

So an insurer goes to this office. A bank goes to the Banking Mohtasib, which our guide to complaining about your bank covers, and which has its own quirks including two different waiting periods printed on its own site. A federal government department goes to the Wafaqi Mohtasib, set out in our guide to complaining to the Wafaqi Mohtasib. Tax matters go to the Federal Tax Ombudsman.

If the dispute is with a seller or a service rather than an insurer, that is a consumer matter instead, and our guide to filing in a consumer court covers the route and its short time limit.

If you disagree with the decision

The Federal Ombudsmen Institutional Reforms Act, 2013 governs this office, and the site lists its sections. Two of them are the ones to know about: section 13 provides for review, and section 14 for representation.

That is the same two step appeal structure the other federal ombudsmen use, where a review goes back to the ombudsman and a representation goes to the President. The site also lists sections on expeditious disposal of complaints, temporary injunction, the power to punish for contempt, and a bar of jurisdiction. Ask the office which of those applies to your case rather than assuming.

What to have ready before you call

Gather the policy document and the schedule, the premium receipts showing the policy was in force on the date of the event, the claim form you submitted, every piece of correspondence with dates, and the written refusal.

Write your account in one page, in order, with dates. The strength of an ombudsman complaint is documentary rather than emotional, and the office is deciding whether the insurer administered your claim properly. Keep copies of everything and send copies rather than originals. For other official helplines we have tested, see our verified government helplines.

Common questions about insurance complaints

Does it cost anything?

No. The office states that relief is cost free, and there is no requirement to engage a lawyer.

How long does it take?

The office records directions to dispose of complaints within sixty days. Treat that as a target rather than a promise.

Can I complain before writing to the insurer?

Write to the insurer first. That correspondence is the record the ombudsman examines, and the refusal in writing is the key document.

What kinds of complaint does it handle?

Allegations of maladministration by insurance companies, under the Insurance Ordinance, 2000 and the Federal Ombudsmen Institutional Reforms Act, 2013.

What if my problem is with a bank, not an insurer?

That is the Banking Mohtasib, a separate office in the same family of federal ombudsmen.

Last checked and sources

Last checked 30 August 2026. We read the website of the Federal Insurance Ombudsman of Pakistan at fio.gov.pk on that date. The description of the office as an independent and specialised institution for resolving disputes between policyholders and insurance companies, its establishment under the Insurance Ordinance, 2000 and the Federal Ombudsmen Institutional Reforms Act, 2013, its remit over allegations of maladministration, the statement that relief is speedy, hassle free and cost free, the digitalised online complaint registration, the recorded direction to dispose of complaints within sixty days, the helpline 1082 operating nine to five, the email infohq@fio.gov.pk, the head office address at the PRCS Annexe Building on Dr Daudpota Road in Karachi, the telephone numbers, the account of four task specific federal ombudsmen established after the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat in 1983, and the listed sections of the two governing statutes including review and representation, are all taken from that site. The sequence of writing to the insurer first, the period of about one month for its reply and the limit of about three months to file afterwards are reported and we could not confirm them on the office's own pages, so they are marked as reported in the body. Confirm any deadline on 1082 before relying on it. We did not read the text of the Insurance Ordinance, 2000 itself for this guide.