Meike was quoted today, 13/08/2012, in Wealth Professional in an article about churn and commissions.

“The financial planning community has come out in force to slam the FSC’s “ridiculous” plans to claw back life insurance commissions for policies that lapse within three years.

The FSC’s latest proposed anti-churning measures have opened up a can of worms amongst Australia’s financial planning community, many of whom are despairing at the potential financial punishment that they could face simply for doing their job properly…

…Commenting on Synchron director Don Trapnell’s suggestion that – should the FSC proposition to have a three-year responsibility period be universally adopted – Synchron will consider making a formal complaint to the ACCC for anti-competitive behaviour, Meike – Suggars & Associates, said the following:

“I’d support the complaint to ACCC. How are we meant to run a viable business if we can’t bank on income until 3 years after the work was done? That’s completely unrealistic and certainly does not work in the best interest of the client. They’ll be sent off to ‘direct insurers’ who are purely transactional and don’t offer the ongoing service that often results in a policy upgrade. Without this ongoing service, the client is likely to be left with a policy that no longer protects their circumstances the way it should…”

Read the full article here.