Ambulance-chasing lawyers complicate super processes

A roundtable of superannuation executives has lamented the cost and complexity being injected by “ambulance chaser” lawyers. 

Superannuation fund members need to be educated to understand that they do not need to go straight to a lawyer if they are having a dispute with their fund over benefits or other matters, according to Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees chief executive Tom Garcia. 

Participating on a roundtable run by Money Management’s sister publication, Super Review, Garcia and other panelists expressed concern at how early lawyers were becoming involved in superannuation disputes and the costs they imposed on members who actually had access to no-cost procedures and eventual access to the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT). 

“As an industry we need to communicate that there is a process within funds and via the SCT and they do not need to resort to ambulance-chasers,” the AIST CEO said. 

Energy Industry Super chief executive Alex Hutchison said there had definitely been an upturn in the early involvement of lawyers, whereas five or six years ago that was rare. 

“Now it is common, when in reality there is no need for an external legal practitioner to play a role and they are often just an impediment,” he said. 

Legalsuper chief executive Andrew Proebstl said while he agreed funds should educate their members on the free processes available to them, he believed funds should not get in the way of members seeking external advice if they felt they needed to. 

Garcia agreed that members were entitled to get advice but warned of the costs involved. 

“We want them to get the right advice but we don’t want them to be preyed upon by ambulance chasers,” he said.