Another "This can't be right"

[Grumpy John]

My dear mum had the foresight to arrange for a prepaid funeral bond, I made an appointment to meet with the funeral director yesterday afternoon. Imagine my surprise/shock/horror/confusion when I got there and she told me the the bond had been cashed in by the Power of Attorny (me) in 2007 :C:censored2::ranting2::sad3::fineprint:.
The bond was originally taken out with Manchester Unity Friendly Society in December 1986.
In 2007 when mum went into care I obtained Power of Attorny (financial and medical) and organised mums finances so that she would receive an income that would meet all her expenses. One of the things I did was to cash in a small (~$2000) investment with Australian Unity. Apparently somewhere (http://www.moneytime.com.au/health-insurance-funds/Australian-Unity_history.html) along the line Man. Unity became Australian Unity and the bond transferred. However, in the changeover AU did not set up the new investment as a funeral bond and I had no idea that I was cashing in mums funeral. Here's the kicker, you cannot cash in a funeral bond until the person who took out the bond is deceased (much like you can't touch your super until you retire).
The funeral director made several calls to AU to try and get some answers but their glib response was "well he's got the $2000", trouble is that the funeral mum put the bond on is now worth $6500.
Is there an ombudsman I can go to to help sort this out?
I hope that this rather rambling story makes sense, but I'm having trouble getting my thoughts together at the moment.

[jimbur]

Just when you are at you most vulnerable. I'm trying to be careful with language but it appears that they gained $4500 by seemingly not complying with the conditions of the bond.
You can't do much in the short term of course but it must be followed up as you can't be the only person unknowingly in this situation. There is a financial ombudsman but any ombudsman's office should see that you go to the right people.
best wishes,
Jim

[tea lady]

:c

[Sturdee]

Is there an ombudsman I can go to to help sort this out?


The insurance ombudsman service (http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/823929/fromItemId/815972/quickLinkId/816518/whichType/org) was merged into the financial ombudsman service (http://www.fos.org.au/centric/home_page.jsp) who should be able to help.



Peter.

[ian]

John
the "cashing in" of the bond should be reversible as the error is the company's not yours -- however be prepared to "refund" the $2000 you received in '07 to which you may have to add the interest the bond would have earned between '07 and now

[Grumpy John]

The insurance ombudsman service (http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/823929/fromItemId/815972/quickLinkId/816518/whichType/org) was merged into the financial ombudsman service (http://www.fos.org.au/centric/home_page.jsp) who should be able to help.



Peter.

Thanks for the link Peter, will follow it up on Monday.


John
the "cashing in" of the bond should be reversible as the error is the company's not yours -- however be prepared to "refund" the $2000 you received in '07 to which you may have to add the interest the bond would have earned between '07 and now

We'll see about ANY refund on my behalf, I'm planning on playing the emotional distress card very heavily.

[ian]

We'll see about ANY refund on my behalf, I'm planning on playing the emotional distress card very heavily.don't be too agressive and loose sight of your objective.
You want to give your mother a $6,500 funeral, you can do this if the original funeral bond is honoured.
at the moment the bond has been cancelled because it was cashed-in. The error wasn't yours but the cash now is. Plan on being reasonable and it might be sorted in a day or so. The alternative might take 2 to 3 years.

[Grumpy John]

I rang AU yesterday arvo when I got home from work. I worked my way up the foodchain and ended up speaking with a manager. Took copious notes noting time and who I spoke with. I informed everyone that I spoke with that I would be taking notes, I even asked for a transcript of the "tape made for training purposes". Got a big knock back on that one, but at least they know I'm serious.
I emailed them copies of all the relevant paperwork and now I have to sit back and wait, the ball is well and truly in their court.

[johnc]

Whatever you do get all the information you can on the original investment because without that you may not get to far. The power of attourney owes a duty of care and should have made themselves aware of what they were cashing in (yes that does mean you).

Just be careful because you may have an action against them as executor for their mistake assuming there is one, but they in turn may be able to sue you for failing to discharge your duties properly and causing them a loss.

Also the funeral bond would only have ever been worth its surrender value not $6500, given the current investment climate it is just possible the bond if it still existed may not have been worth much more than the $2000.

To be honest I doubt this is really worth the effort, you may get a bit of an ex gratia payment but I really don't your situation is strong enough to get far, you can't sue others for your own mistakes. That sadly is the situation even though it was probably an administrative blunder with the name change.