In an open letter from Super Consumers Australia, the group claims process delays are occurring for both AMP superannuation trustees and the insurance providers.
“It’s not good enough that families who are dealing with the tragedy of losing a loved one and paying funeral costs are being left at the mercy of this tardy insurer,” Xavier O’Halloran, director of Super Consumers Australia, said.
The findings showed that while 76.3 per cent of the total finalised claims took between zero and two weeks to pay out, AMP paid out just 21.1 per cent of claims during the same time period.
Compared with the industry average of just over a month (1.2 months), AMP took an average of 5.7 months to finalise death claims, which was fewer than some of its competitors.
The findings come as APRA launches a consultation to enact the Hayne royal commission recommendation to reduce conflicts of interest in insurance in superannuation, by requiring funds who are using a related party insurer provide “independent certification” they are acting in the best interests of members.
“APRA’s intervention here is timely, given AMP’s abhorrent insurance claims handling delays, we have serious doubts whether they are acting in the best interests of their members.”
“We welcome AMP’s explanation for these delays as there is currently very little scrutiny on whether super funds are providing appropriate insurance services to their members,” says Mr O’Halloran.
nestegg has previously covered the shonky awards, where AMP’s long delays were highlighted.
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