Achmea reaches final agreement on unit-linked insurance policies with interest groups
- The affected customers will receive clarity, and the ongoing legal proceedings in the unit-linked policies file can be definitively terminated.
- Achmea is reserving a total amount of € 60 million for the settlement agreement. In addition, a large extra reservation of € 25 million has been made for poignant cases (“schrijnende gevallen”) unaffiliated to the interest groups.
- The settlement agreement follows various measures that Achmea has taken in the past, including customer compensation totalling € 380 million.
Achmea has reached an agreement with interest groups Consumentenclaim, Woekerpolis.nl, Woekerpolisproces, Wakkerpolis and the Consumentenbond with respect to a final settlement for customers with a unit-linked insurance policy who are affiliated with one of these groups. This concerns unit-linked policies that were sold in the Netherlands through the brands Avéro Achmea, Centraal Beheer, FBTO, Interpolis and their legal predecessors. The agreement involves an amount of € 85 million. The impact of the agreement on Achmea’s capital position is limited.
Bianca Tetteroo, Chair of Achmea’s Executive Board: ‘I am pleased to announce today that we have signed a final agreement with the interest groups. This is an incredibly important milestone for all parties involved. It is good that there is now a solution for the affected customers, and that a sense of clarity has been achieved.’
Information for customers
After the details regarding the implementation of the settlement agreement have been finalised, customers will receive individual proposals through the interest group with which they are affiliated. Once at least 90% of the customers have agreed to their proposal, the entire agreement will become final.
Customers who are not affiliated with an interest group and want to register as a poignant case (“schrijnend geval”) can do so at www.achmea.nl/schikkingsovereenkomst
Legal proceedings discontinued
One collective legal action was still pending between Achmea and Woekerpolis.nl and the Consumentenbond. These two interest groups had lodged an appeal against a previous court ruling. Those appeal proceedings will now be discontinued. An agreement has also been made with the interest groups that no more new legal proceedings will be initiated. Customers who have not yet done so will no longer be able to join an interest group.