a.s.r. closes unit-linked life insurance file
a.s.r. has reached a final settlement for unit-linked life insurance customers of Aegon and a.s.r. affiliated to the interest groups Consumentenclaim, Woekerpolis.nl, Woekerpolisproces, Wakkerpolis and Consumentenbond. All collective proceedings of the interest groups against Aegon and a.s.r. will be terminated. The settlement involves approximately 250 million euros.
Over the past years, the interest groups conducted collective proceedings against a.s.r. and Aegon regarding a number of unit-linked products. a.s.r. and Aegon have already taken a number of additional measures for customers in the past years, for a total amount of about EUR 2 billion. With the agreement that has now been reached, further legal proceedings will be terminated, the parties will put an end to uncertainty for customers and this file will be closed for a.s.r.
The settlement applies to all Aegon and a.s.r. products of customers affiliated to one of the above interest groups, and therefore not only to products on which class action proceedings are pending. It was also agreed that no new lawsuits will be filed. The agreement will become final once 90% of the affiliated customers of a.s.r. and Aegon agree to the settlement.
Affiliated customers will be informed by the interest groups as soon as all details of the implementation have been worked out. This process will take several months. Customers will receive information about this personally.
Jos Baeten, CEO at a.s.r.: ‘I am pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with all parties involved, with which we present a final settlement for our affiliated customers. With this final settlement, we can close this file and give customers clarity.’
The settlement and the provision made for it have no impact on a.s.r.’s capital and dividend policy.
The total provision taken by a.s.r. to close the unit-linked life insurance file amounts to 300 million euros. In addition to the amount involved in the settlement, a.s.r. is making an additional provision of 50 million euros for special cases and for unaffiliated customers that have not previously received compensation. These customers can contact a.s.r. directly for further information from 4 December.
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