The release of the Interim Report from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry today is a watershed moment for the finance sector according to Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Rights Legal Centre. Commissioner Hayne has slammed the finance sector for its greed and the ‘pursuit of short term profit at the expense of basic [ More ]
Government mandated insurance disclosure doesn’t help people make purchasing decisions. This was the key finding of a world first experimental study released today titled (In)effective Disclosure: An experimental study of consumers purchasing home contents insurance. The study, conducted by Monash Professors Justin Malbon (Faculty of Law) and Harmen Oppewal (Monash Business School) examined the effectiveness of home contents product disclosure [ More ]
Consumer advocates are calling for a ban on life insurance cold calling, after ASIC today revealed major rip offs and startlingly high claims rejections. ASIC reported today that insurers are cold-calling and pressuring people to take out unsuitable life insurance. People are then cancelling in droves – with one in five cancelling during the cooling off period and almost half [ More ]
The Federal Government is letting the worst and most harmful financial products in the community run wild according to consumer advocates. It’s now one year, eight months, one week and fifteen days since the Government accepted recommendations to reform laws governing payday loans and consumer leases. Despite committing to bringing the reforms to Parliament by the end of 2017, the [ More ]
Australia’s banks will have to commit to strict enforcement and strong resourcing for the new Code of Banking Practice, if the Code is to achieve real change in the industry, say consumer advocates. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission approved the revised Code of Banking Practice on Tuesday. Consumer advocates said that while the new Code includes some enhancements, banks [ More ]
