Sale of AMP Life an absolute travesty

Therese Singleton

Policyholder Andrew Body’s petition was heard on Wednesday, asking for the House to urgently review the Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act (IPSA) to ensure that policyholders are treated fairly when a life insurer is sold.

The sale of AMP Life to Resolution Life was finalised on Wednesday.

Body told the committee that he had no choice but to participate in the transaction. “If I was to change my policy or move to another life insurance company, I would be substantially worse off. It’s absolute compulsion. The problem I really have is I haven’t been consulted, I have no information about this transaction, it’s a mystery. All I know about the purchaser is it’s a Bermudan tax haven company apparently controlled by a financial entrepreneur from the UK.”

Body said he could not think of any other transaction of a similar size and complexity in which the major stakeholders knew nothing.