SCT urges trustees to better educate members

The Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT) has urged superannuation fund trustees to better educate their members about things such as insurance entitlements and benefits.

In the SCT's most recent bulletin, SCT chairperson Jocelyn Furlan has pointed to the latest data on complaints handled by the tribunal and commented that, "at first glance, the figures suggest that trustees could potentially reduce complaints by almost 20 per cent by better educating members about insurance entitlements and premiums".

"Interestingly, anecdotal evidence suggests that just as many members complain about unwanted insurance as those who complain that they are not covered, but that would just seem to underline the need for improved communication in this area," her bulletin said.

Furlan said that it seemed to the Tribunal that targeted mail-outs to "at risk" groups, such as part-timers and casuals, or highlighting sections of regular disclosures for these groups, might go some way to reducing the number of complaints that trustees had to deal with.

She said that another example of an "at risk" group was defined benefit members approaching retirement.

"It is clear to the Tribunal that these members need to be better informed about the treatment of their benefits from the date their service ceases to the date their benefits are paid or rolled over," she said.

Furlan said the Tribunal was working towards providing more detailed information about these types of complaints in the future.