In its submission to the FOFA Post Implementation Review, the FPA said the costs associated with the implementation and ongoing compliance with many of the FOFA measures have impacted the costs involved in providing advice and created barriers to business growth.
The industry body said this is resulting in higher advice fees for clients and restricted service offerings.
In particular, it noted the impact the ban on commissions for both individual and group insurance has had on advice businesses, with some small businesses losing between 15 to 30 per cent of revenue.
The FPA said, as a result, some advice businesses have stopped offering a risk advice service “as the cost to implement advice is too high and clients are not prepared to pay a flat fee for this advice”.
“Businesses had to decide whether to keep clients or archive them as no revenue was coming in to support the ongoing service needed to provide life insurance advice, such as an annual review of the policy to ensure it meets clients’ needs,” the FPA said in the submission.
The ban has also resulted in the reduced availability of risk advice for clients, noting that some of them have found paying a flat fee too expensive for risk advice, the FPA said.
Further, it said it was not aware of any cases where an adviser provided a recommendation to move from group to retail life insurance that was contrary to best interests obligations.
“The FPA is not aware of any cases involving financial planners mis-selling insurance policies outside of superannuation to access commissions, where the policy offered by the client’s superannuation fund offered a better product for that client’s circumstances and needs,” the submission said.
And they state this AFTER LIF, Well Done.
I always wondered what happened to Blind Freddy? Turns out he has a job in government. Freddy is fortunate to have a mate at the FPA, who possesses extraordinary insight, combined with amazing capacity to confirm the bleeding obvious.
Substitute ‘government regulation (of any type)’ for FOFA……many of the ‘government regulation’ measures have impacted the costs involved in providing advice and created barriers to business growth. Keep up the good work people.
Why weren’t these findings revealed or investigated during the LIF debacle?
Just when ya think you’ve seen it all . . . . this!
Little wonder there is chronic underinsurance and it’s set to get massively WORSE!
The problems start when you allow government employees to dictate how business should be run. Idiots!
Mind you, the industry has allowed it to happen. Now people will buy insurance at their own risk direct without advice. No need for advisers!
Wow! That’s incisive – the PC brigade has infiltrated everywhere, what a bunch of front-runners…
What an insight??? I could have told you that 12 years ago when our business tried to “Sell” risk for a fee. Once again the term Financial Adviser is confusing to all…one aspect of advice is emotional and intangible and the other is logical and tangible…how can one set of rules be a level playing field…it goes back to the old adage…”Risk is sold never bought”…like it or not policy makers…risk is a product that needs to be sold and to sell it an adviser needs to create the emotional environment for people to act before they can’t.