Kathmandu. The trustee of Australia’s largest superannuation fund has been ordered to pay more than $15 million in fines for delaying insurance claims processing.
The Securities and Investments Commission of Australia (ASIC) said in a statement on November 25 that the Construction and Building Association Superannuation Fund (Seabus) had agreed to pay a fine of $15.3 million (about Rs 2.18 billion about Rs 2.18 billion) after admitting delays in processing death benefits and total and permanent disability (TPD) insurance claims had caused hardship to more than 7,000 Australians. ’
The fine imposed on Seabus’s trustee United Super Pvt Ltd is more than United Super’s $12 million in revenue for 2024. “These fines are separate from Seabus’ own reform program,” the commission said. It seeks to compensate 7,402 affected claimants and members for lost income and wrongful fees. That’s about $20.89 million.
The Federal Court found that between March 27, 2023, and May 1, 2023, between 48 percent and 56 percent of all death claims (the number between 438 and 479) as a percentage of all death claims, had not been paid for more than 365 days. The court found that between 38 percent and 43 percent of all TPD claims (the number between 391 and 409) had not been paid for more than 365 days during the same period.
