She said her emails and applications marked as urgent, including for her clients who are terminally ill, are routinely ignored.
“I just think that super funds don’t prioritise putting resources into their systems and processes for these people,” O’Neill said. “It just feels like we’re banging our heads up against a brick wall time and time again, and it appears to us from the outside that there is a culture of don’t know, don’t care, not interested.”
Super Consumers Australia chief executive Xavier O’Halloran thought the superannuation industry would improve markedly after the regulator sued Cbus. Credit: Rhett Wyman
Five weeks ago, ASIC released a landmark report examining super funds’ handling of death benefit claims and found “claims processes and procedures were often unclear and inconsistent”, and that “communication and engagement was often ineffective and insensitive”.
However, the regulator said during its review, that funds were “reassessing their claims handling communications and practices, and considering what changes need to be made to improve claimant outcomes”. Of the 10 trustees it examined, ASIC identified priority areas for improvement and found the vast majority had made progress.
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“The reviewed trustees have already taken meaningful steps to improve the claims handling experience for future claimants, and planned future measures should continue to drive better claims experiences,” ASIC’s report found.
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, which represents industry funds, said the industry had been working on delivering on more complicated improvements included in ASIC’s 34 recommendations.
“We take heart from complaints data from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, which shows complaints about death benefits claims handling delays have dropped significantly in the two most recent quarters,” an ASFA spokesman said.
“The superannuation sector knows it has more to do and is committed to getting this right.”
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Super Consumers Australia chief executive Xavier O’Halloran criticised the improvements made by the industry as taking steps “around the edges”, and said that a mandatory customer service standard was required.
“This has been on the card for years – not just the last six months [since ASIC’s case against Cbus],” he said.
“There have been constant complaints raised about the way claims processing is working. We saw the assistant treasurer raise concerns about customer service three years ago with the funds, and that’s why he decided to announce mandatory customer service because he wasn’t convinced in the subsequent two years there had been any improvements.”
The Financial Services Council, which represents retail funds, says its standards require member funds to annually attest compliance, which includes clear timelines for considering and resolving consumer claims. The council’s policy director, Chaneg Torres, said funds should prioritise increasing investment to improving their customer service.
“In moments of grieving and high stress, consumers should be able to expect their superannuation fund can at least give them peace of mind that the necessary administration of death benefits will be looked after as efficiently as possible, and claims will be paid in a timely manner,” Torres said.
“Recent scandals in the handling of group life insurance claims have understandably shaken consumers’ confidence.”
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