Aviva will pay out despite redemptions freeze

Aviva Australia will pay out the income from its investment and pension accounts to thousands of its customers until the end of the year, despite the freeze on redemptions, which has affected some of its payments.

Investors, self-funded retirees and self-managed super fund members with accounts in Aviva’s Personal Investment plan (PI) and Personal Retirement (PR) plan on its Navigator platform have been affected by the freeze on redemptions, as these products are linked into the mortgage fund sector.

Frank Lombardo, the group director, operations, at Aviva, said while Aviva’s primary aim was to ensure uninterrupted payments to pensioners during the Christmas period, the pay out will apply to all customers with accounts under the PI and PR plans.

The aim of the plan is to avoid the panic that would arise from pensioners not getting their payments on time, he said. All payments would go out as normal.

“Our customers should not have to go cap in hand to Centrelink. They’ve worked hard to fund their retirement and we are committed to meeting their needs.

“This announcement covers all Aviva products with holdings in external funds that are affected by the current ‘freeze’ issues. We are continuing to review the situation to minimise the impact and we still need to find a solution for a handful of customers,” Lombardo added.

The situation will be reassessed again at the end of the year, Lombardo said.