Woolworths refunding some customers after Everyday Insurance error

Supermarket giant Woolworths is refunding customers who were overcharged as a result of a third-party error.

Grocery giant Woolworths is refunding customers who were overcharged for their Everyday Insurance car policies as a result of a third-party error.

The supermarket chain’s insurance scheme was launched nearly 25 years ago and provides home and car cover through underwriter Hollard Insurance.

The underwriter is responsible for pricing and applying promotional discounts, but an error dating back to 2018 meant some car policy holders did not receive the appropriate discounts.

Woolworths is refunding customers who were overcharged for their Everyday Insurance car policies. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

A spokesperson for Woolworths said the mistake had been identified during a review of the pricing of insurance policies.

“We have identified instances where certain promotional discounts were not correctly applied on some Everyday Insurance car policies, by our underwriter, Hollard Insurance,” they said.

“As a result, we are in the process of contacting the impacted customers and refunding the additional charges, including any calculated interest.”

While it’s estimated tens of thousands of people held a car insurance policy with Everyday Insurance between 2018 and 2023, only a small portion of customers are believed to have been affected.

Woolworths did not provide the number of people impacted by the error, who will be advised about the refund in coming days.

Affected customers will receive an average of $27. Picture: NewsWire / Dean Martin

The average amount to be refunded is $27 per customer, including interest.

“We apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused and together with Hollard, we have improved processes to ensure this does not happen in the future,” the spokesperson said.

Everyday Insurance occasionally offers promotional discounts on car, home, and landlords policy premiums which are managed by Hollard and automatically executed at the point of purchase.

Hollard has self-reported the overcharging error to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

The underwriter has been contacted for comment.

Originally published as Woolworths refunding some customers after Everyday Insurance error