AMP charged dead clients

ROYAL COMMISSION AMP in Australia charged nearly A$1 million in life insurance premiums to superannuation scheme members it knew had died, the Australian Royal Commission as been told.

Wednesday, September 19th 2018, 6:00AM 1 Comment

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Misconduct in the Banking, Financial Services and Superannuation industry continues.

AMP's group executive of wealth solutions Paul Sainsbury told the commission that AMP had identified 3214 customers who had been charged A$922,000 in premiums despite the business having been told the client was dead.

He said AMP conducted a review after it was revealed in April that CBA had charged people who had died.

AMP reported the breach to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) in June.

The high-profile inquiry has claimed multiple scalps and damaged the reputation of the Australian sector.

Partners Life managing director Naomi Ballantyne said such a process would destroy consumer confidence in the sector and reinforce to people who were reluctant to engage that staying away was the right thing to do.

But advisers said there was yet to be a noticeable flow-on effect to New Zealand.

Jon-Paul Hale, of Willowgrove Consulting, said it had not been raised by a single client.

"I've raised it with a few to tackle it if they have association with the industry and even then they're not paying any attention to it. It's an industry storm in a teacup for the rest of the economy."

Bill Raynel, of Investment Solutions Northland, also saw little concern here. “Absolutely zero comment from clients actually. I think they see it as a wake-up call for the banks and expect that bank processes are under the spotlight as a result so they simply go about their daily routine expecting that all will be fine. That’s the Kiwi way though isn’t it?”

Tags: Royal Commission