Latest news with #FSCL
Scoop
28-05-2025
- Scoop
Don't Let Money Mishaps Freeze Your Fun: FSCL's Top Winter Travel Tips
Press Release – FSCL The Financial Ombudsman service regularly receives complaints from holidaymakers who run into trouble with financial services. As winter approaches and many New Zealanders plan mid-year overseas getaways, Financial Ombudsman service, Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL), is reminding travellers to take extra care with travel cards, currency exchange, and travel insurance. The Financial Ombudsman service regularly receives complaints from holidaymakers who run into trouble with financial services. 'Every year we see cases where a simple mistake, oversight, or lapse in security leads to significant financial loss for holidaymakers,' says Susan Taylor, Financial Ombudsman. 'A little preparation can save a lot of stress and money.' Travel cards Travel cards are a convenient way for travellers to store foreign currency. Keeping cards secure and being vigilant when depositing funds averts issues. If you don't keep your card safe or allow someone else to take possession of it, you may not be refunded for fraudulent transactions. Elijah* found this out on a recent holiday in Europe, after losing €3,000 when using his travel card to purchase drinks at a bar. Transferring foreign currency also requires care. Entering even a single digit incorrectly can send your money to the wrong account. 'Retrieving funds sent to the wrong account can be challenging, as it relies on the recipient returning the money, at the request of the travel card provider,' says Ms Taylor. Currency exchange Complaints about money exchange are also increasingly common. To avoid unexpected charges, it pays to compare exchange rates between retailers and remember that exchanging money at an airport is usually more expensive. Travel insurance Pre-existing medical condition exclusions are also a cause of problems for travellers when they think they're covered for illness while travelling but find out later they're not. 'Many people get caught out when insurers classify a condition as pre-existing, even if a formal diagnosis hasn't been made,' says Ms Taylor. This was the case for David* and Meena*, who had to pay their own medical and additional travel costs when David had emergency surgery on his kidney during the couple's holiday in America. The insurer declined the claim because the operation was due to a pre-existing medical condition that David hadn't disclosed—meaning it was not covered by the policy. David had been diagnosed with kidney stones before his holiday, but was told by the hospital's medical staff that the stones were small and didn't need treatment at that time. David assumed that nothing more could be done, and his symptoms would resolve on their own. Because he hadn't disclosed any of this to the insurer, he had to pay for the associated medical expenses and costs of cutting his holiday short. Travellers should read their travel policy wording carefully to understand what cover is included in case they need to make a claim. 'Unexpected challenges, extra expenses incurred while travelling, or being ill on holiday can be very distressing, so it pays to take time to select financial products carefully, review any terms and conditions, and always disclose any health conditions to your insurer, even if you don't think they're serious,' says Ms Taylor.
Scoop
28-05-2025
- Scoop
Don't Let Money Mishaps Freeze Your Fun: FSCL's Top Winter Travel Tips
Wednesday, 28 May 2025, 7:18 pm Press Release: FSCL As winter approaches and many New Zealanders plan mid-year overseas getaways, Financial Ombudsman service, Financial Services Complaints Limited (FSCL), is reminding travellers to take extra care with travel cards, currency exchange, and travel insurance. The Financial Ombudsman service regularly receives complaints from holidaymakers who run into trouble with financial services. 'Every year we see cases where a simple mistake, oversight, or lapse in security leads to significant financial loss for holidaymakers,' says Susan Taylor, Financial Ombudsman. 'A little preparation can save a lot of stress and money.' Travel cards Travel cards are a convenient way for travellers to store foreign currency. Keeping cards secure and being vigilant when depositing funds averts issues. If you don't keep your card safe or allow someone else to take possession of it, you may not be refunded for fraudulent transactions. Elijah* found this out on a recent holiday in Europe, after losing €3,000 when using his travel card to purchase drinks at a bar. Transferring foreign currency also requires care. Entering even a single digit incorrectly can send your money to the wrong account. 'Retrieving funds sent to the wrong account can be challenging, as it relies on the recipient returning the money, at the request of the travel card provider,' says Ms Taylor. Currency exchange Complaints about money exchange are also increasingly common. To avoid unexpected charges, it pays to compare exchange rates between retailers and remember that exchanging money at an airport is usually more expensive. Travel insurance Pre-existing medical condition exclusions are also a cause of problems for travellers when they think they're covered for illness while travelling but find out later they're not. 'Many people get caught out when insurers classify a condition as pre-existing, even if a formal diagnosis hasn't been made,' says Ms Taylor. This was the case for David* and Meena*, who had to pay their own medical and additional travel costs when David had emergency surgery on his kidney during the couple's holiday in America. The insurer declined the claim because the operation was due to a pre-existing medical condition that David hadn't disclosed—meaning it was not covered by the policy. David had been diagnosed with kidney stones before his holiday, but was told by the hospital's medical staff that the stones were small and didn't need treatment at that time. David assumed that nothing more could be done, and his symptoms would resolve on their own. Because he hadn't disclosed any of this to the insurer, he had to pay for the associated medical expenses and costs of cutting his holiday short. Travellers should read their travel policy wording carefully to understand what cover is included in case they need to make a claim. 'Unexpected challenges, extra expenses incurred while travelling, or being ill on holiday can be very distressing, so it pays to take time to select financial products carefully, review any terms and conditions, and always disclose any health conditions to your insurer, even if you don't think they're serious,' says Ms Taylor. * Names have been changed. © Scoop Media
RNZ News
21-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
One digit wrong, $2000 lost: Man who paid money to wrong account urged to drop complaint
The man paid the wrong person when he entered the wrong suffix. (File image) Photo: 123rf A man who lost $2000 when he got one number wrong in a bank transfer has been told to drop his complaint. He complained to Financial Services Complaints Ltd (FSCL) after the money was lost. The man realised he had entered the recipient account number incorrectly when the money did not turn up. FSCL said he had entered 05 instead of 55 as the suffix, and did not pick up on the mistake before the transfer was processed. He contacted his bank, but was told it could not help because he had authorised the transfer. The money transfer service said it was not its mistake because the money had gone to the account that had been entered. "The service attempted to recall the money from the recipient, but the recall was unsuccessful because the recipient did not respond. They explained that they were not responsible for [the man's] loss because they were not aware that he had made a mistake in the recipient details when the transfer was made. "[He] understood that the service had attempted to recall the money, but he believed there may be additional steps that could have been taken to ensure a better outcome. [He] thought the service could have had a stronger follow-up process with the recipient, to ensure that they were aware of the situation and the urgency. [He] asked if the service could try harder to recover the funds, as he was left with no other recourse." FSCL said nothing more could be reasonably expected from the service to try to recall the money. "The service acted promptly once they had been notified that the transfer had been made in error. It was unfortunate that the recipient did not respond to the service, however, the service was not obliged to continue to follow up with the recipient or to attempt to escalate the recall directly to the recipient's bank. The service did not make the mistake and were not responsible for [the] loss." Banking Ombudsman Nicola Sladden earlier said banks could reverse a payment with the consent of the person who received it, but if that did not work people might end up having to pursue the money themselves. The introduction of account name matching should make these sorts of mistakes less frequent . Hamish Dempster, senior lecturer in the school of accounting and commercial law at Victoria University, said it was a complex issue. "There can be civil and criminal consequences, depending on the facts." He pointed to a case more than a decade ago when Leo Gao and Kara Hurring were mistakenly given $10 million by Westpac . They were on the run for two years but were eventually caught, found guilty of theft and sentenced to prison and home detention, respectively, for their roles . "The bank would not want to get involved because any unwinding of the payment puts the bank out of pocket - because its liability to the customer would increase by the amount of the payment - and it would then need to recover from the payee. "It would most likely say to its customer, 'It's up to you to recover from the payee.' That would involve a claim under the civil law in money had and received. It's not certain the claim would succeed because money… received traditionally involved claims in relation to money itself, and here we are talking about a 'payment' through the payments system without using money itself." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
