An insurer has been ordered to pay compensation to a mother after it mistakenly sent her abusive ex-husband an email said to contain her “highly sensitive personal information”.

IAG made a series of other errors while investigating the woman’s car theft claim and caused “significant and unreasonable levels of stress, anxiety and inconvenience”, according to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.

The mother told AFCA that, following the email mistake, she “experienced ongoing harassment and abuse from her former husband”.

“This, she says, escalated to the point that the police have issued ... [an] apprehended domestic violence order,” an ombudsman said.

“Due to safety concerns for both her and her children, they we were forced to temporarily leave their home. They have since returned and she has implemented all possible safety measures. However, the situation has been extremely distressing.”

IAG has also been told to accept the woman’s $58,300 car theft claim, which it initially rejected and alleged was fraudulent.

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The claim was in fact valid and IAG must remove “all mentions of fraud, a declined claim and cancellation of the complainant’s policies” from its records, AFCA says.

The woman said the email – a complaint acknowledgement – included “highly detailed, personally identifiable and confidential information”. She alleged the error was a breach of privacy.

This and delays in her claim “have had a significant and detrimental impact on her mental health and wellbeing”, AFCA says.

IAG said it was unclear how the error happened, and it had apologised and offered $300 in compensation.

But it said the email did not include any of the claimant’s personal information.

“The insurer has elected not to provide a copy of the said email for AFCA’s consideration,” the ombudsman said.

“Rather, I note ... the insurer requested that the complainant provide it with a copy of all information sent in the privacy breach. I find this highly concerning and unreasonable.”

The ombudsman says IAG’s “expectation that the complainant obtain this email from her former husband, despite being made aware of his abusive behaviour and allegations of domestic violence, is unreasonable”.

Without the email, AFCA says it cannot rule it a breach of privacy, but it considered the error when weighing its compensation decision.

Other errors included IAG making “inaccurate assertions” from the “very beginning of the claim” and failing to provide call recordings when the mother requested them in contesting the matter.

IAG must pay $6300 compensation for non-financial loss – the highest sum the authority can award.

See AFCA’s ruling here.