Are super fund effective insurance advocates?

Superannuation fund boards needs to be protecting the interests of their members when it comes to insurance claims, according to a roundtable of senior superannuation industry executives.

Commenting on the controversy around claims-handling by CommInsure, the roundtable participants said that, in theory, superannuation fund members should be better protected with respect to their insurance than those who obtained insurance via the retail system.

However, they conceded that problems and significant expense arose when superannuation funds opted to change insurers.

Pillar Administration chief executive, Peter Brook said that as an administrator assisting a client in moving insurance providers, he could vouch for the fact that it was a problematic exercise.

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"It can be hell if you are a member with a claim," he said.

Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) chief executive, Tom Garcia said that there was no doubt that the claims-management process needed to be heavily reviewed and better communicated "because sometimes the claimant experience is really not very good".

He said he believed superannuation funds had to get better at explaining insurance in superannuation.

Brook said trustee boards should act as "guardian angels" in terms of protecting the interests of members with respect to insurance.

With Willies Towers Watson head of retirement income solutions, Nick Callil saying superannuation fund boards should be proactively protecting the interests of their members "and if they think an insurers' decision is not right they should be taking it up".

"Super fund members are in a lot better position, I think," he said.