Athora Netherlands reaches final settlement agreement with interest groups regarding investment-linked insurance policies
22 March 2024
Athora Netherlands N.V. (Athora Netherlands) announces today that it has reached a final settlement agreement with interest groups Consumentenclaim, Vereniging Woekerpolis.nl, Woekerpolisproces, Wakkerpolis and Consumentenbond regarding investment-linked insurance products sold in the Netherlands by SRLEV N.V. (Reaal) and its predecessor companies. The settlement amounts to EUR 70 million. In addition, EUR 25 million will be available for hardship cases and non-affiliated customers that have not previously received compensation.
The settlement relates to all investment-linked insurance products of customers affiliated with one of the interest groups. All legal proceedings will be discontinued, and no new legal proceedings may be initiated by the interest groups. The agreement will be final once 90% of these affiliated customers agree with their proposal. Athora Netherlands expects this process to take at least until the end of 2024. The settlement agreement follows various measures that Athora Netherlands has taken in the past including compensations of around EUR 400 million.
Clarity and closure
Jan de Pooter, CEO Athora Netherlands: “We are pleased to announce the final settlement agreement with the interest groups. Through this agreement we provide clarity and aim to bring closure to this long-standing industry issue for our customers.”
Financial impact
Athora Netherlands will take a EUR 95 million provision in the financial year 2023 to cover the costs of this settlement and the provision for hardship cases and non-affiliated customers that have not received prior compensation. This will have an impact of approximately -/-6% on its Solvency II ratio at year-end 2023.
Information for customers
Once all details relating to the execution of the settlement have been finalised, affiliated customers will receive their individual proposal through their respective interest group. Hardship cases and customers that are not affiliated with an interest group and have not received earlier compensation can register via the Reaal website.