A woman in Perth, Australia, whose abusive relationship ended more than five years ago, is having no luck cancelling a life insurance policy that was taken out by her abusive, former partner, bringing insurance reform directly into the spotlight.
"He's threatened me, he's threatened my daughter. He will not settle. I just want to get on with my life. I do not want him to have any incentive to benefit from me dying. I am terrified," she told The West Australian.
The woman, who remains anonymous because of her continued concerns about her former partner, originally contacted the insurer, AMP, about cancelling the policy. At first, the insurer didn’t appear to take her concerns seriously.
"They said they would make a note on the file," she said. "What good is that to me?"
The woman found out about the insurance policy while working on a financial settlement with her former partner. As recently as last year payments were made by her former partner to renew the life insurance policy in which he was the sole beneficiary. The renewal coming shortly after a restraining order was placed against the former partner.
You would think there would be laws against this type of action. Not so according to AMP. To cancel the policy is currently against the law.
"We want to help," AMP director of insurance Megan Beer said. "At the moment our hands are tied. We take this very, very seriously. We need to act quickly."
As a result the company has called on the Financial Services Council, the industry association for Australian financial services companies, to find a solution that the federal government would see fit to introduce so that no one else is put through this ordeal.
"I'd be happy to consider how else we might be able to lead some change across this industry," Beer said.
