Personal bio
Karen Stevens is the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman (IFSO) in New Zealand. The IFSO Scheme is responsible for providing a free and independent dispute resolution service for customers of participating financial service providers. Most of the insurers belong to the IFSO Scheme, because of the resources and data made available to IFSO Scheme Participants, certainty of cost and consistency of decision-making. Karen is a barrister and qualified arbitrator and mediator (MCiarb and AANINZ). With a background in civil litigation (originally in banking with a major law firm) and alternative dispute resolution, she was appointed to the role of Ombudsman in May 1998. In 2009, Karen completed a Master of Laws degree from La Trobe University in Australia, majoring in conflict resolution. She is the recent past Chair of both the Australian and New Zealand Ombudsman Association (ANZOA) and the International Network of Financial Services Ombudsman Schemes.