Insurance critic visited by police
Police have visited the Christchurch home of a staunch insurance industry critic over daily emails sent to his insurer.
Accountant Cameron Preston said ‘‘police turned up out of nowhere’’ at the end of July after they were briefed by his insurer, Southern Response.
‘‘Luckily, my wife and children were not in the house,’’ he said.
Southern Response said they briefed police after Preston’s tone had become ‘‘progressively threatening [and] intimidating’’ over the past six months.
Preston said he had always been polite in his communications with the company and denied making any threatening comment.
He said police told him Southern Response had complained about daily emails he sent to the company.
‘‘They [police] told me this could be seen as harassing them [Southern Response],’’ he said.
He was surprised his requests for information had been perceived as harassment as he took ‘‘tremendous care that I never lose my patience and stay polite’’.
He had sent daily emails to the company ‘‘because they never respond’’.
Preston has been vocal in the media since the quakes about his concerns against the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and insurers. He has filed countless Official Information Act requests and emails insurers regularly to ask for information on quake claim issues.
Preston said police told him they had opened a file and were ‘‘keeping an eye’’ on him.
Preston said he complained to the police commissioner about the visit. ‘‘I was a bit perturbed by the whole experience.’’
The following day, Preston received a letter from Southern Response chief executive Peter Rose, informing him all correspondence relating to his claim would be managed by the company’s lawyer.
‘‘It has become increasingly challenging for Southern Response staff to manage your correspondence given the frequency of your emails and the progressively threatening, intimidating tone of your recent correspondence with Southern Response staff,’’ the letter said.
Specific concerns cited in the letter included telling staff that Southern Response’s approach in managing his claim was ‘‘not going to end well’’, ‘‘unsettling’’ allegations that staff had intimidated his family, sought to destroy his reputation and attempted to bully him, and ‘‘making repeated unsubstantiated accusations of staff breaking the law’’.
Preston said he had told staff Southern Response’s approach was ‘‘not going to end well’’, meaning it would not reflect well on the company’s image, not as a threat.
A Southern Response spokeswoman said Preston was ‘‘one of only a handful of situations where police have been briefed’’ out of about 50,000 claims.
‘‘We have not laid an official complaint with the police, nor have we asked them to act on our behalf. We were simply advised to brief the police based on the concerns raised on our letter.’’
Southern Response took ‘‘any warning signals of intimidating and threatening behaviour seriously’’, she said.