Processing of contributions and withdrawals
The following section provides information about the circumstances in which we may suspend the processing of contributions and withdrawals. Our current process may differ to the description in your original product terms.
We reserve the right to suspend the processing of all contributions or withdrawals under certain market conditions or extraordinary circumstances, if in our opinion, to continue processing would not be in the best interest of policyholders. Please note that before you rollover, transfer or withdraw a benefit you can ask us for any assistance or information on anything you are unsure of, including benefits, fees and charges, or the possible effects of rolling over/transferring your benefit.
Identification requirements
TOWER has processes in place to help to prevent unauthorised people from gaining access to your investments. However, there are some steps that individuals can take to help protect their personal information from unauthorised access or use. View more information on how you can protect your personal information.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (the AML/CTF Act) requires us to identify you and verify your identity when you withdraw benefits from your policy. Generally, you will need to provide certain documents (such as certified copies of your passport or current driver’s licence) for sighting and verification of your identity. If you do not provide identifying documents, we will not be able to pay your benefit. The AML/CTF Act also imposes reporting obligations on us if we form suspicions about the identity of someone we are transacting with or about the transaction itself. In these circumstances we may decide to delay or decline to process that transaction and report it to the regulator if we are concerned that the request or transaction may be in breach of the provisions of the AML/CTF Act or cause us to commit an offence under that Act. If we take this step we will not incur any liability to you.
Unit pricing
The following section provides information about unit pricing. Our current process may differ to the description in your original product terms. We reserve the right to alter our process at any time without notice.
How unit pricing works
When you invest money in a TOWER product, your money is pooled together with that of other policyholders. TOWER then uses this pool of funds to buy assets which are managed on behalf of all policyholders. All units within each unit linked investment option have an equal value. Unit prices for these investment options are determined daily (for each business day) by dividing the total net asset value of the investment option by the number of units on issue within that investment option.
The net asset value of the investment option includes the market value of the assets (including some tax benefits that may arise in the future) and provisions for fees, transaction costs and any other expenses of the investment option. We use the most recent best estimate of these provisions in each day’s net asset value. These estimates are updated regularly.
The only options that are not unitised are the TOWER Capital Assured, TOWER Capital Guaranteed and Investment Series C investment options, which credit income via an interest rate.
Benefit payments
TOWER’s current procedure is to calculate the withdrawal value using the latest available unit price at the time of calculating the payment. Our current process has been updated and may differ from the benefit calculation procedure in your original product terms.
Adjustments
Unfortunately, from time to time administration or unit pricing errors occur that may affect the value of accrued benefits of the policy. When a material error has been identified, TOWER Australia will adjust policyholders’ accounts as follows:
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for policyholders who are still current, we will adjust your investment to ensure it is in the position it should have been had the error not occurred; and
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for policyholders who have exited, compensation will be paid where the adjustment is $20 or more.
Where an exited policyholder has been overpaid, TOWER Australia may seek to recover the overpayment from the policyholder.
Fees
We will provide you with at least 30 days notice before introducing any additional fee(s) or before any increases (other than Consumer Price Index increases) to existing fees.
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