One of Australia’s biggest banks is being sued by a New Zealand family living in Perth who claim they were sold a life insurance policy they could never make a claim on.
Charles Cairns, 58, and his wife Judith live in the outer suburb of Port Kennedy in the Rockingham area but as temporary residents would not be eligible for a payout from the OnePath premium.
They were told by the financial adviser that their status as temporary residents prevented them from ever making a claim and the couple last month launched a discrimination case in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
‘It scares me to death taking on one of the big banks, this one hit too close to home, I am just an average guy who tried to keep fit and had a stroke and no other life insurance will touch me now,’ Mr Cairns told Daily Mail Australia.
Charles Cairns, 58, and his wife Judith with their family. They’re taking on ANZ bank over a life insurance policy they could never make a claim on
OnePath, which would ultimately return the couple’s payments of nearly $20,000, states it is ‘a company of ANZ’ on its website.
Mr Cairns revealed how he and his wife took out insurance policies more than 10 years ago ‘through the ANZ because we banked with them’.
A seminar on becoming an Australian citizen attended by a relative raised the alarm.
‘They said “you Kiwis have to to remember you are just visa holders and things like your life insurance may be null and void”.
‘So we took a look and she said “gee, I think you might be in trouble her”.’
‘I have paid taxes all my life here but they just dropped me and said “you are no longer covered” and gave me back our premiums.
‘It was very stressful, I just had a stroke [a year earlier] and my wife was worried that I would have another bloody episode.’
The Cairns’ are suing bank ANZ over a life insurance policy (stock image)
Their case stated: ‘In 2005 Mr Cairns took up the policy for both himself and his wife. In March 2015 the Cairns’ financial adviser raised concern regarding the wording of their policy. They obtained a copy of the PDS for their policy dated November 2006.’
It revealed that their financial adviser wrote to OnePath on 28 March 2015 to ‘clarify the matter’.
‘On 9 April 2015 the Cairns received a response from OnePath stating that the Cairns “would not be covered from commencement of the policy as they are not citizens or permanent residents of Australia.” They were advised that the only option available to them was to cancel the policy from inception and all premiums would be refunded.’
The Cairns then launched their race discrimination complaint against both ANZ and OnePath.
‘It was the first time in our lives we were able to afford some life insurance, we couldn’t in New Zealand, we were both fit and well and strong,’ he said.
‘It isn’t about monetary gain – just imagine your partner being told after you died and “sorry you’re not covered”, that’s what I thought about, my wife how we would she go being told that?
‘And it’s for all the other people who don’t know that they might not be able to collect their life insurance.’
Mr Cairns revealed how he and his wife took out insurance policies more than 10 years ago ‘through the ANZ because we banked with them
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