Superannuation is the cornerstone of retirement planning for most Australians, providing a nest egg for those golden years.

However, a recent incident involving a man and his superannuation account reminds everyone in the over-60s community to remain vigilant about our retirement funds.

A retired tram driver, Kevin Coghlan, faced a startling revelation when he decided to review his superannuation fund with ESSSuper following a severe health scare.

To his utter disbelief, he discovered that the beneficiaries listed on his account were two women, both named as his daughters.

Except Mr Coghlan doesn't have any daughters.

Retired tram driver Kevin Coghlan was stunned to find two strangers on his superannuation account listed as beneficiaries. Credit: 9News Australia / Facebook

'I have one male child, not two female children,' he expressed his bewilderment.

The two women, strangers to him, had been listed as beneficiaries since 2021, the year he joined the fund.

‘There was a situation just recently where I could have died on the operating table,’ Mr Coghlan added.

Understandably, he was upset about the mistake and the nonchalant response from the ESSSuper employee, who informed him that correcting the error was a simple process.

'The person I was speaking to said, in a nonchalant type of manner, you can just go home and delete that and put whomever you wish,' he recounted.

ESSSuper's chief executive, Robbie Campo, explained that the mistake was due to a 'manual error' during the joining process, where another member's beneficiaries were incorrectly applied to Mr Coghlan's account.

Since then, ESSSuper has digitised its processes to minimise the risk of such errors happening again.

Campo also emphasised that they believe this to be an isolated incident and have since apologised to Mr Coghlan.

This incident has prompted the superannuation industry to regularly urge members to check their account statements and details.

Mary Delahunty, the chief executive of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, reassured that it would be incredibly rare for funds to be wrongly paid out due to rigorous checks and balances in place.

'Superannuation is not like an estate. It's not the same as your will,' Delahunty explained.

'The trustee is actually obliged to check the validity of that even when it's a binding nomination.'

Key Takeaways

• Kevin Coghlan, a retired tram driver, was shocked to find two unknown women listed as beneficiaries on his superannuation account.
• The beneficiaries had been incorrectly listed on his account since 2021 due to a manual error at ESSSuper.
• ESSSuper has since digitised its processes to reduce the likelihood of such errors occurring in the future.
• The superannuation industry emphasised the importance of regularly checking account statements and details, as well as the robust checks in place to validate beneficiaries in the event of a member’s death.

Have you checked your superannuation details lately? Share your experiences and tips with our community in the comments below.

 

[Catherines]

The beneficiaries are more than likely relatives of an ESSSuper worker

Theories, theories, theories!

Mistakes do happen, as in this case, but the advice given to check the beneficiaries on your super account is very worthwhile advice.

 

[Towing]

I'm not so sure that's true. I am very aware of a case a few years ago where an estranged wife contested the will of the deceased. The beneficiaries named in 2 Super funds were ignored and most of the money was shared between the lawyers and the estranged wife. The named beneficiaries got very little of the inheritance they were pledged.

If there is a legal separation or divorce through court it can include a clause that the estranged has no future financial claim