How to complain about your super

There's a set process to follow if you're unhappy with your super fund. Source: National Features

THOUSANDS of Australians are unhappy with their superannuation and complaints are once again on the rise.

Almost 14,000 people contacted the Government's Superannuation Complaints Tribunal last financial year about their managed super funds. A similar number of disgruntled savers is estimated from the self-managed sector, as they switch or sue their advisers, but have nowhere to make a formal complaint.

So what can you do if you are unhappy with your super fund?

According to the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal, the starting point for the average super fund member is always the fund manager.

Tribunal chairman Jocelyn Furlan says of the 13,900 calls to the government organisation last year, the vast majority were from people who had to be referred back to their super fund to kick-start the complaint process.

Even within the 2619 formal written complaints to the tribunal about 1000 of them still had to be sent back to the fund to give it an opportunity to resolve the problem first.

If after 90 days the fund does not respond or it gives a response the person is not happy with, then the issue can be taken up by the tribunal.

However, Furlan says that in thousands of cases every year the issues are solved by the fund.The tribunal had a 3 per cent rise in phone complaints and a 6.5 per cent increase in written complaints in the year to June 2012, compared with 2010-11.

"The increase in complaints hasn't been triggered by a specific event," she says.

"It appears to be a combination of more awareness, higher account balances and the surge of Baby Boomers hitting retirement age."

The tribunal's biggest area of disputes are about decisions by trustees, particularly to do with benefit amounts and payments, insurance and death payouts.

It does not make judgments on investment performance which is one of the areas of dispute for many people.

> Investment performance

Independent research company SuperRatings says the difference between the best-performing super fund and the worst is typically about 6 per cent a year. That can add up to $200,000 at retirement.

"But don't take too much notice of the one-year performance returns," SuperRatings founder Jeff Bresnahan says. "It's much more important to look at a five or seven-year period.

"If your fund consistently underperforms for the type of investment option it is, then that's a catalyst for change.

"To put it in simple terms, a difference of 6 per cent a year between the best and worst fund is either retiring with $400,000 or $600,000 you decide," Bresnahan says.

> Switching funds

If you're not happy with your fund, it's often a slow and complicated process to switch.

"It's incredibly difficult to switch funds, they put road blocks up in your way at every step," Bresnahan says.

"You have to be very persistent because some funds will try every trick in the book to hold on to that money.

"They say this form is missing, or that form never arrived or it was incorrect, you just have to keep at it. Get your new fund to undertake or help with the roll-over," he says.

> Slow to complain

Hospitality and tourism super fund Intrust Super says most Aussies are "apathetic" when it comes to tackling their super and they ignore or allow problems to go on for decades.

"This attitude could see a problem or error go on for 30 years before it's noticed," Intrust chief executive Brendan O'Farrell says.

"But you monitor your bank account, why not be proactive and read your super statement and your fund's annual report," he asks.

--

SELF-MANAGED SUPER FUNDS

SELF-MANAGED funds have less avenues for complaint because they are run and managed by their members.

Each member must also be a trustee, and is responsible for all administration, compliance and investment decisions.

However, complaints about advisers hired by the trustees can be directed to:

- Institute of Chartered Accounts, CPA

- Australian Taxation Office

- Financial Ombudsman Service

- Australian Securities and Investments Commission

View the original article here

Abbott super cuts 'hit women hardest'

Tony Abbott with wife Margie at a campaign rally. The Opposition Leader has worked at improving his image with female voters, but many of those will lose money under his super cuts. Picture: Nikki Short Source: News Limited

Julia Gillard is reaching out to blue collar workers with a billion dollar package to protect local manufacturing jobs

Tony Abbott with wife Margie at a campaign rally. The Opposition Leader has worked at improving his image with female voters, but many of those will lose money under his super cuts. Picture: Nikki Short Source: News Limited

A KEY Coalition savings measure to axe the $500 superannuation benefit for low-income workers will hit more than two million women, including 11,000 female voters in Tony Abbott's own electorate.

As a Galaxy poll shows 62 per cent of women harbour concerns over the Opposition leader, Australia's peak welfare body and Labor are targeting Mr Abbott over the $800 million savings measure.

The Coalition plans to scrap the $500 co-contribution for workers earning less than $37,000, a move that will affect thousands of women in some of the country's most marginal seats.

In western Sydney, around 25,000 women will lose the benefit in the Labor-held seats of Lindsay and Greenway, while nearly 13,000 low-paid women in the Victorian regional seat of Corangamite, held by Labor's Darren Cheesman, will also miss out.

Brisbane, one of the Liberals' most marginal electorates, also has a high number of working women, around 15,000, who stand to lose the $500 payment.

The Gillard Government hopes that Mr Abbott's negative standing with many women will allow it to "sandbag" crucial marginal seats at the September 14 poll.

Around 60 per cent, or 2.1 million, of the 3.6 million workers hit by the Coalition super policy are women, and female workers generally hold around 50 per cent of the total super savings held by men.

Treasurer Wayne Swan slammed the Coalition's "raid" on low and middle income superannuation.

"I've rarely seen such a nasty policy, ripping up to $500 a year from the superannuation accounts of one in every three workers," Mr Swan said.

"It says a lot about Tony Abbotts view of the world that he thinks hard working women should be hit hardest to fill his $70 billion budget crater."

Status of Women Minister Julie Collins, said that "winding back the superannuation benefits of low-income workers will hit women the hardest".

"Two thirds of these workers are women," she said.

"On top of that, the average superannuation balance for Australian women is already 40 per cent below that of men and average payouts are almost half that of men."

Richard Dennis, head of the Canberra-based Australia Institute, warned the Opposition leader that his status with female voters would suffer.

"You would think that in an election year where Tony Abbott needs to show women voters that he's serious about representing their interests, that he would have thought more deeply about the consequences of such a big change," he said.

The Australian Council of Social Services, which has been lobbying the Gillard Government to make super fairer for low income workers, called on Mr Abbott to "rethink" the savings measure.

ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie said: "We know that women are clearly more vulnerable to hardship and poverty in later life because they have much less overall savings. The recent introduction of the Government Contribution will make a significant difference in the gender disparity of retirement savings, ensuring that people on low incomes are now at least not penalised by paying more tax on their super than they would ordinarily pay."

The Coalition's superannuation spokesman, Mathias Cormann, said Labor could not be trusted on superannuation and predicted it would be "forced to scrap the low income super tax offset because they can't afford it".

"That's because they've linked that promise to their failed mining tax, which hasn't raised any meaningful revenue," he said.

View the original article here

How to complain about your super

There's a set process to follow if you're unhappy with your super fund. Source: National Features

THOUSANDS of Australians are unhappy with their superannuation and complaints are once again on the rise.

Almost 14,000 people contacted the Government's Superannuation Complaints Tribunal last financial year about their managed super funds. A similar number of disgruntled savers is estimated from the self-managed sector, as they switch or sue their advisers, but have nowhere to make a formal complaint.

So what can you do if you are unhappy with your super fund?

According to the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal, the starting point for the average super fund member is always the fund manager.

Tribunal chairman Jocelyn Furlan says of the 13,900 calls to the government organisation last year, the vast majority were from people who had to be referred back to their super fund to kick-start the complaint process.

Even within the 2619 formal written complaints to the tribunal about 1000 of them still had to be sent back to the fund to give it an opportunity to resolve the problem first.

If after 90 days the fund does not respond or it gives a response the person is not happy with, then the issue can be taken up by the tribunal.

However, Furlan says that in thousands of cases every year the issues are solved by the fund.The tribunal had a 3 per cent rise in phone complaints and a 6.5 per cent increase in written complaints in the year to June 2012, compared with 2010-11.

"The increase in complaints hasn't been triggered by a specific event," she says.

"It appears to be a combination of more awareness, higher account balances and the surge of Baby Boomers hitting retirement age."

The tribunal's biggest area of disputes are about decisions by trustees, particularly to do with benefit amounts and payments, insurance and death payouts.

It does not make judgments on investment performance which is one of the areas of dispute for many people.

> Investment performance

Independent research company SuperRatings says the difference between the best-performing super fund and the worst is typically about 6 per cent a year. That can add up to $200,000 at retirement.

"But don't take too much notice of the one-year performance returns," SuperRatings founder Jeff Bresnahan says. "It's much more important to look at a five or seven-year period.

"If your fund consistently underperforms for the type of investment option it is, then that's a catalyst for change.

"To put it in simple terms, a difference of 6 per cent a year between the best and worst fund is either retiring with $400,000 or $600,000 you decide," Bresnahan says.

> Switching funds

If you're not happy with your fund, it's often a slow and complicated process to switch.

"It's incredibly difficult to switch funds, they put road blocks up in your way at every step," Bresnahan says.

"You have to be very persistent because some funds will try every trick in the book to hold on to that money.

"They say this form is missing, or that form never arrived or it was incorrect, you just have to keep at it. Get your new fund to undertake or help with the roll-over," he says.

> Slow to complain

Hospitality and tourism super fund Intrust Super says most Aussies are "apathetic" when it comes to tackling their super and they ignore or allow problems to go on for decades.

"This attitude could see a problem or error go on for 30 years before it's noticed," Intrust chief executive Brendan O'Farrell says.

"But you monitor your bank account, why not be proactive and read your super statement and your fund's annual report," he asks.

--

SELF-MANAGED SUPER FUNDS

SELF-MANAGED funds have less avenues for complaint because they are run and managed by their members.

Each member must also be a trustee, and is responsible for all administration, compliance and investment decisions.

However, complaints about advisers hired by the trustees can be directed to:

- Institute of Chartered Accounts, CPA

- Australian Taxation Office

- Financial Ombudsman Service

- Australian Securities and Investments Commission

View the original article here