A former employee at insurance company, Metropolitan, was debarred as a financial service provider after the Financial Services Tribunal (FST) found that she lacked honesty and integrity when she increased clients policies without their knowledge.
The decision was made after Nicola Van der Merwe, who was regarded as a top performer, approached the FST to reconsider her four-year debarment by Metropolitan.
Van der Merwe was employed at the insurance company since the beginning of May 2013.
In September 2022, the company received a complaint from a client, De Klerk, stating that there was an unauthorised increase in the premiums on his policy.
Upon investigation, the company established that two replacements were done on his policy to which he never consented.
In response to the allegations, Van der Merwe said she met with De Klerk where he signed to add a cash-back in his policy.
She said she met with her clients on a daily basis and does not communicate with them through the phone. She added that she does not have a voice recording device to record the verbal consent.
However, the company’s investigation revealed that in addition to De Klerk, five more clients complained of replacements to their policies and that their signatures were copied and pasted.
An additional ten complained that their policies were cancelled and replaced without their consent.
It was found that in relation to De Klerk, the replacement policy increased his premium from R394 to R472 and this was done by a call centre agent.
Another replacement was done which increased his premium from R472 to R528 and this was done by Van der Merwe.
However, De Klerk denied ever speaking to a call centre agent. He admitted to speaking to De Klerk but said he never met her or signed any documents with her.
The investigator compared De Klerk’s signature used on the initial policy which was which was facilitated by another representative on April 2021, to the signature used on a policy facilitated by Van der Merwe.
The investigator found that the signature was copied and pasted.
“The clients signed blank application forms as they were under the impression that they were receiving cash-backs on their policies. By having the clients sign blank application forms the applicant (Van der Merwe) transgressed company policies and rules,” read the judgment.
When the investigation was concluded, the investigator recommended that Van der Merwe undergoes a disciplinary enquiry and that she be debarred.
In October 2022, while on an overseas trip sponsored by the company due to her sales performance, Van der Merwe was informed by her manager that there were complaints made against her and she would need to them address upon her return.
She was subsequently dismissed in December 2022 and was debarred in November 2023 for four years.
In 2024, she approached the FST saying she had new evidence in a form of affidavits from four clients but she could not produce the affidavits during debarment proceedings because her employer prohibited her from communicating with the clients.
However, the affidavits were not admitted as evidence due to their credibility.
The FST found that Van der Merwe failed to demonstrate that she acted in the interests of her clients, instead, she issued new policies which resulted in a financial benefit for her.
“The facts support Metropolitan’s finding that Van der Merwe lacked honesty and integrity. In the premises, the tribunal can find no basis to interfere with Metropolitan’s decision to debar Van der Merwe,” read the judgment.
The FST noted that Metropolitan debarred Van der Merwe for a period of four years which was not permitted by the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services.
“The imposition of a four-year period is therefore irregular and stands to be set aside.”
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
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