Speaking before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) deputy chair Peter Kell said general advice regulation was allowing for questionable behaviour regarding direct insurance sales.
“One of our concerns is that, in some areas, we have seen pretty aggressive sales models occurring under general advice models,” Mr Kell said.
“Under personal advice, you get a range of additional protections. There are a range of additional obligations on the adviser that are not necessarily there under the general advice models.”
When asked by Queensland senator Chris Ketter to clarify what behaviour the regulator had seen under a general advice model as opposed to a personal one, Mr Kell said ASIC had seen “some pretty poor practices” under the general advice model.
“We are, of course, as I think the committee may be aware, undertaking a review at the moment of the direct insurance channel, which includes some general advice models,” he added.
“So in the second half of the year we will be in a position to report on what we find there around some of the issues that arise in relation to general advice, not just personal advice.”
So why not do your Job 2 years ago ?? lets not act now , lets what another 6 months ???? Seriously ASIC
How can it be allowed to continue, No Fact find, no needs analysis, no personal statement until claim time, where is a S.O.A. Just phone up and we can provide cover- absolute rubbish, where is the level playing field. I agree with all of the previous comments.
ASIC you are a joke if is allowed to continue.
Its simple ASIC – go to Govt and delete General Advice for risk from the Corps Act. No one but the flogger wins under General Advice. Never has ! Never will !!
ASIC, here is another hint – double the cost of retail and a claim failure of approx. 50%
Good to see you finally realised direct insurance is dodgy, now if you can follow your nose you will also find direct insurers are owned by those same members of FSC that led you by the nose in the wanton destruction of the IFA risk adviser!
Oh really who’d have thought 🙄
ODwyer slams real advisers with extra red tape compliance and LIF reforms to ensure that the dodgy FSC / Banks / Insurance companies can flog as much as possible of the most rubbish Direct Life Insurance, with zero real advice, zero complaince, no SoA, etc and there now seems to be serious problems with this Direct model.
ODWYER – you are directly responsible for this rubbish and you need to be held accountable.
But you can guarantee nothing will happen as ODwyer is owned and run by the FSC / Banks / Insurance companies and they will find a way to make this problem an Adviser problem and burden us with more red tape & more compliance.
[b]ODwyer is a cancer to Financial Advisers and has to go !!!!![/b]
The first step ASIC should ask itself is “What does general advice mean ?” Is it a contradiction in terms and a ploy to disguise product selling as advice ? If the comments they make to potential customers is general, then surely it should be defined as sales or product information rather than advice.