Date: 1 April 2025
Source: Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

Abstract:

ASIC has released Report 806: Taking ownership of death benefits: How trustees can deliver outcomes Australians deserve (Report), which covered the death benefit claims handling practices of ten trustees that manage approximately 38% of APRA-regulated superannuation member benefits. The Report reveals widespread deficiencies in the handling of death benefit claims by superannuation trustees, identifying systemic issues that have caused unnecessary distress to grieving claimants and uncovered significant shortcomings in process efficiency, customer service, data management, and trustee oversight.

A central finding was the prevalence of excessive delays in processing claims. ASIC found that only a minority of trustees processed a substantial proportion of claims within the benchmark 90-day period. One trustee resolved nearly half of claims within this timeframe, while another closed only 8%, illustrating the wide variation in efficiency. Notably, ASIC attributed 78% of claim delays to internal processing failures within trustees’ control, rather than to complexities in claims themselves. This highlights a failure by trustees to design and maintain effective operational systems to meet time-sensitive beneficiary entitlements...