Flogging of worthless life insurance policies laid bare

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the flogging of life insurance is the domain of the hard seller. It is the ultimate “grudge” purchase. Who, after all, wants to think about their own demise, let alone prepare for it?

• John Collett
• The Age

“It has ever been thus,” says Peter Thornhill, who had a long career in funds management and life insurance in Australia and overseas.

“People don’t perceive life insurance as a necessity and, as a consequence, it has to be sold. And if you are paid on sales, you are going to do your damnedest to sell.”

And how. This week the royal commission into misconduct in the financial services lifted the lid on the…

• Flogging of worthless…