4 Jun 2011

Insurance company closing branches

8:41 am on 4 June 2011

Insurer AAMI is closing all 24 of its branches in Australia within the next two months due to more customers doing business online.

The ABC reports the company will continue to provide telephone and online services.

The insurer says 102 employees will be affected by the decision, but it hopes to move up to half of them to call centres.

AAMI is owned by Suncorp, which recently saw a fall of 39% in first-half net profit due to the natural disasters during summer.

The company has branches in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.

AAMI denies the closures are a cost-cutting measure, saying they are a response to customers doing more business online.

It says it is not worth keeping the branches open because such a small number of people use them.