POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
ASIC to issue notices to 50 super trustees
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will soon issue notices to nearly 50 superannuation trustees to investigate their insurance arrangements, including timeframes, claims and complaints resolution, as well as details about their incentives schemes, such as premium rebates.
Speaking at Super Review's sister publication Money Management’s Life Insurance Claims Handling Breakfast today, ASIC deputy chair, Peter Kell, said the issuance would also provide ASIC “high level data around insurance in super” – a boon for the data-hungry regulator.
Kell said he expected that a smaller number of trustees would be selected for a further detailed review once ASIC had completed its analysis of this “higher level data”.
Off the back of last year’s industry review, ASIC had been seeking to address specific concerns around complaints handling and disclosure practices, as well as potential conflicts of interest arising from incentives schemes.
“Our work in this area comes partly from last year’s review, but also from some work we’ve been looking at on member experience in super and effective disclosure,” Kell said.
“We’ve found that there were vulnerabilities for consumers in relation to their insurance in super, particularly around changes to cover or where cover ceases.”
ASIC was particularly conscious of the constant changes that could affect member policies, often without the active consent or awareness of the consumer.
“We found that disclosure of insurance can be improved [by] making sure product disclosure statements [PDS] match policy documents, and that all other material the trustee may have about insurance lines up as well,” he said.
According to Kell, there was a clear need for superannuation providers to improve disclosure throughout the complaints handling process, particularly as members were often unaware of changes or how they can effectively address complaints.
“We’ve found too often that it’s… very difficult for [members] to understand the next steps they can take if they are concerned about a claim being denied or, indeed, who [should] take ownership of that communication,” he said.
In these instances, Kell believed it was trustees that did not make it clear whether consumers were required to go through internal dispute resolution channels before taking their claim up with the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal.
AUTHOR
Patrick Buncsi
Patrick wears his many hats with pride as copywriter, content marketer, and journalist for Money Management and Super Review. A long-standing member of the Cirrus Media team, Patrick has written extensively across the IT, manufacturing, mining, architecture, food technology, and financial services industries.
Recommended for you
The insurance company has joined this year’s awards as a principal partner.
The $135 billion fund has transitioned away from TAL Life Insurance following an “extensive tender process”.
The $80 billion fund is facing legal action over allegedly signing up new members to income protection insurance by default without active member consent.
In a Senate submission, the Financial Services Council has once again called for further clarification that the government will assess the consumer outcomes of group insurance against the enshrined objective of superannuation.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
Spire Oaktree Opportunities XI Second Close
61.07 3 y p.a(%)
2
Spire Oaktree Opportunities XI First Close USD
59.21 3 y p.a(%)
3
DomaCom Lot 21 Chellaston Road Munno Para West SA 5115 Australia
32.57 3 y p.a(%)
4
Fidante Credit Suisse Global Private Equity
32.09 3 y p.a(%)
5
DomaCom 4/27 Crombie Avenue Bundall QLD 4217 Australia
27.42 3 y p.a(%)
