Meet our new Head of Membership

Campbell Daff joins AFCA this month as our Head of Membership Services, a newly created position.

Prior to joining AFCA, Campbell was the Head of Membership Operations at RACV where he built and led the organisation’s membership fulfillment functions. He has also held roles at NAB, where he led a significant customer transformation program for the bank’s Business Servicing Centre and worked with the Customer Strategy team specialising in customer advocacy and Net Promoter Scores.

Campbell brings a wealth of industry experience to manage and deliver AFCA's new vision for how AFCA can assist our members.

AFCA receives more than 80,000 complaints in FY19-20,
5,000 related to COVID-19

AFCA received 80,546 complaints between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020 - a 13.7% increase in monthly complaints compared to last financial year (FY18-19). AFCA also secured $258.6 million in compensation and refunds direct to consumers with 78% of cases resolved and majority of these cases settled in 60 days or less.

With the virus declared a pandemic in March, we also received 4,773 complaints related to COVID-19 from 3 March to 30 June 2020. Most of these complaints were about general insurance claims (1,813) with more than 1,500 of these complaints related to travel insurance.

More information about AFCA’s operations for the financial year will be made available in AFCA’s 2019-20 Annual Review, scheduled for release in the second half of 2020.

To see AFCA's FY19-20 12 month snapshot click here

Top tips for members

Many of our most common member inquiries can be accessed via our self-service Member Portal. Here are some top tips on finding what you need, when you need it, in these busy times.

To obtain your invoice: Login to your Member Portal (Secure Services), click on 'Invoices' tab and download invoice
To download your 2020-21 certificate: Login to your Member Portal (Secure Services), click on 'certificate' tab and download certificate. Please allow up to 2 business days from when payment was received by AFCA for it to be available
If you are experiencing portal login issues, please try refreshing your browser: For Windows - press Ctrl + F5, for MAC/Apple devices - press Apple + R. If issue persists, please login to on a different browser such as Internet Explorer or even another device such as your phone
Licensees - If an Authorised Credit Representative is no longer acting for you please cancel your credit representative in your Member Portal (Secure Services)
Licensees - To onboard existing AFCA credit representatives, please use the tool available in 'Apply for ACR membership' and select 'YES' for existing member, enter the member number and new licensee number

FPA's Virtual Congress

AFCA's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Ombudsman David Locke participated in a webinar as part of FPA's Virtual Congress where he gave the attendees a preview of AFCA's Annual Review data for 2019-20 financial year and focused on the financial advice industry’s performance and how members can best work with AFCA to prevent, reduce and resolve complaints. He emphasised on communication being the key to minimising disputes and to ensure that communications are accessible, transparent and honest especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. To read full article click here

AFCA has released two new fact sheets with information for consumers about how to approach common issues related to COVID-19

Factsheet – Break fees

Factsheet – Chargebacks

Lenders may now be offering loans at interest rates lower than the rate you are paying. However, when you approach your lender about changing your loan, they may tell you that a fee will be payable. Your lender may refer to this as a ‘break fee’, an ‘early exit fee’ or ‘economic cost’.

AFCA has created a factsheet with frequently asked questions about these break fees. To read this fact sheet, click here

Please note the information in this factsheet applies to break fees payable on loans with a fixed-rate period and not to other types of fees and charges.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread cancellations of holidays and other events. If your plans were cancelled due to COVID-19 and you paid by credit card, you may be able to get a refund by asking your bank or credit union to raise a chargeback.

AFCA has created a factsheet to provide you with all the information regarding COVID-19 and chargebacks. To read factsheet click here

ASIC releases its Regulatory Guide 271 Internal Dispute Resolution

AFCA's submission to ASIC's product intervention powers consultation

ASIC released its Regulatory Guide 271 Internal Dispute Resolution last month after extensive consultation with stakeholders – including industry, consumer groups and AFCA.

ASIC’s Regulatory Guide 271 Internal Dispute Resolution introduces reduced timeframes for responding to complaints, sets out what information firms must include in written IDR responses and provides guidance for dealing with representatives that do not act in a consumer’s best interest.

The updated standards and requirements will come into effect on 5 October 2021.
To read more click here

AFCA published its response to ASIC’s consultation on the proposed use of its product intervention powers to address significant consumer detriment arising from continuing credit contracts being provided to retail clients under a ‘collateral services’ model.

AFCA strongly agrees with ASIC’s assessment of the potential harm that continuing credit contracts provided under this model can cause. The submission highlights that continuing credit contracts, like short term credit contracts, are often used by vulnerable consumers in financial stress. The fee structure associated with the ‘collateral services’ model can have significant adverse effects on individuals, their families and communities, as well as the broader financial services system. To read more click here

Insurance Council and AFCA agree to launch business interruption test case

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) have agreed to file a test case considering the application of infectious diseases cover in business interruption policies.

The primary purpose of the test case is to seek a decision from a superior court on whether references to a quarantinable disease under the Quarantine Act 1908 should be construed as a reference to a listed human disease under the Biosecurity Act 2015 in various policies issued to small businesses containing business interruption cover. On behalf of all insurers who offer commercial products, the ICA will seek leave to have the test case heard as an expedited matter.

The outcomes of the test case will be used by AFCA in determining relevant complaints arising in respect of business interruption claims. The legal costs of the test case will be funded by the ICA. To read more click here

Changes to how AFCA records non-responses at registration

MCR Partners

AFCA records how financial firms perform when we refer complaints back to them and then no response at registration is provided to both the complainant and AFCA. This information is reported as the “non-response” rate in both benchmarking reports and the AFCA Datacube. From 1 July 2020, AFCA will also record non-response instances where financial firms respond to AFCA but do not outline their position or provide us with supporting documentation. Responses without this information do not help resolve complaints with the consumer and don’t provide any information for AFCA to start an investigation.

The change in how AFCA records non-responses at registration will provide a more complete picture of how members are taking steps to resolve complaints. For more information on how to respond to complaints, read the:

AFCA has banned paid representative MCR Partners from lodging complaints on behalf of consumers and small businesses. This is the first time AFCA has exercised its discretion under AFCA Rule 2.2 to exclude a third party paid representative.

MCR Partners (its directors, employees or agent) is excluded from lodging complaints for 15 months, from Friday 26 June 2020 to 30 September 2021.

While AFCA will no longer deal with MCR on any new or existing complaints, it will continue to process complaints currently in the system, either dealing directly with consumers or a replacement representative. AFCA has contacted those who currently have a complaint lodged.

AFCA will review its position in September 2021, to decide whether to again accept complaints lodged by MCR, subject to specific conditions. Any such review will also consider MCR’s observance of the period of exclusion

To read more click here

Feedback and questions

If you have any questions, suggestions or want to know more about AFCA processes, email publications@afca.org.au and we'll do our best to provide an answer in a future edition