ClearView Life Assurance will fork out roughly $1.5m in refunds to 16,000 consumers; and has also stopped selling life insurance directly to consumers, following an
ASIC review that found the insurer was using “unfair and high-pressure sales practices” to directly sell more than 32,000 policies –1,166 of which were to consumers who were “unlikely to have English as their first language.”
ASIC said that between Jan. 1, 2014 and June 30, 2017, ClearView sales staff made misleading statements about the cover, the premiums, and the effect of the consumers' pre-existing medical conditions; didn't clearly obtain consumer consent to purchase the cover before processing the premium payments; and used pressure sales tactics to sell life insurance policies.
In response to the concerns raised by ASIC, ClearView will:
- refund full premiums, all bank fees, and interest to customers with high initial lapse rates;
- refund 50% of premiums and interest to customers with high ongoing lapse rates
- offer a sales call review to other eligible consumers and remediate if there is evidence of poor conduct;
- engage independent expert EY to provide independent assurance over the consumer remediation program; and
- cease selling life insurance directly to consumers (that is, without personal financial advice).
“Purchasing life insurance is a key financial decision for consumers, and all the information provided to them must be clear and balanced,” said ASIC Deputy Chair
Peter Kell. “Insurers should properly supervise their sales staff and ensure that no misconduct is occurring.”
Eligible consumers will be contacted by ClearView. For questions about the remediation, contact ClearView at 1800 213 839 or via email at
[email protected].
Related stories:
ClearView inks cooperation agreement with Sony Life
ClearView posts double-digit profit growth for HY17
