This is an unofficial translation of a press release issued in Dutch by Aegon The Netherlands.
- Aegon’s response to the ruling of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal with respect to Koersplan products
In accordance with what Aegon has consistently maintained, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal acknowledges that a specific Aegon unit-linked product (Koersplan) sold during the period 1989-1998 entailed an obligation on the part of customers to pay a premium for a death benefit.
The Court, however, has ruled that Aegon should have more clearly informed its customers about the amount of premium which the company charged in relation to the embedded death benefit. Aegon acknowledges that its level of communication could have been better at the time. Aegon has subsequently taken steps to substantially improve its communications with customers.
In its decision, the Court has ruled that customers are required to pay a reasonable premium. However, the Court has defined what it considers to be a reasonable premium based on one arbitrary industry example, which Aegon believes is not representative. It is Aegon’s view that, based on the arguments presented, the decision arrived at by the Court is not justified.
Aegon has decided to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court in the Netherlands. Today’s ruling of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal does not have any impact on individual customers.
The Court also refers to the agreements entered into with customer interest groups regarding unit-linked products. Aegon would like to emphasize that any such arrangements have to do with cost levels within products, and are not related the existence of a death benefit, or any premiums that would be involved.
