ASIC civil penalty Federal Court judgement
RACQ acknowledges the Federal Court’s decision today to impose a civil penalty of $10 million plus costs on RACQ Insurance (RACQ) for contraventions of the ASIC Act.
Although RACQ had no intention to mislead, it recognises and admits the historical controls it had in place to ensure its PDSs complied with the laws were inadequate.
The proceedings followed RACQ’s self-identification and self-reporting of these matters to ASIC, and the outcome of RACQ’s broader pricing promises review in 2022. The PDSs were revised in March 2022 to address the issues.
Since then, RACQ has processed more than $54 million (as at 30 November 2023) in refunds to eligible members and the refunds are expected to be substantially completed by end of February 2024.
RACQ has apologised for these matters as they are not in keeping with the Club’s high standards and values.
RACQ is simplifying its insurance products and the discounts that it offers members and improving its systems and processes to reduce complexity to ensure this never happens again.
RACQ had anticipated a penalty of this amount and provisioned for this in its FY23 accounts. All costs of the remediation, including the penalty, will be paid from its reserves.
In line with the court order, a Federal Court notice will be posted on the racq.com website.
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Insurance products (excluding Travel Insurance) are issued by RACQ Insurance Limited ABN 50 009 704 152 (RACQ). Conditions, limits and exclusions apply. This is general advice only and may not be right for you. This information does not take your personal objectives, circumstances or needs into account. Read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and any applicable Supplementary PDS before making a purchase decision on this product. You can also access our Target Market Determinations on this website.
Banking and loan products issued by Members Banking Group Limited ABN 83 087 651 054 AFSL/Australian credit licence 241195 trading as RACQ Bank. Terms, conditions, fees, charges and lending policies apply. This is general advice only and may not be right for you. This information does not take your personal objectives, circumstances or needs into account. Read the disclosure documents for your selected product or service, including the Financial Services Guide and the Terms and Conditions, and consider if appropriate for you before deciding.
Except for RACQ Bank, any RACQ entity referred to on this page is not an authorised deposit-taking institution for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). That entity’s obligations do not represent deposits or other liabilities of RACQ Bank. RACQ Bank does not guarantee or otherwise provide assurance in respect of the obligations of that entity, unless noted otherwise.
RACQ Operations Pty Ltd (ABN 80 009 663 414 AR 000234978) and Members Travel Group Pty Ltd (ABN 45 144 538 803 AR 000432492) are acting as an Authorised Representative of the issuer of the insurance, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. (ABN 80 000 438 291 AFSL 246 548). Any advice set out above is general in nature only, and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before purchasing any travel products, please consider the RACQ Travel Insurance Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and the Target Market Determinations (TMDs) that apply to these products. Whilst the PDS outlines the Terms and Conditions of these products, the TMDs outline the intended class of customers that comprise the target market for these travel products. This will allow you to consider which products best suit your objectives, financial situation and needs and consider the products appropriateness to your personal circumstances. TMDs also outline matters involving the distribution and the review of these products. The PDS, Supplementary PDS and TMDs for each travel product can be found here.