Wife’s battle over bungled $200K life insurance: “I won, my husband lost”
<p>Cheryl Sayers was caught in an unimaginable battle when AMP incorrectly cancelled her husband Lee’s life insurance just months before he died of a terminal illness.</p>
<p>The couple’s final months together were tainted by AMP’s unforgiveable failure and so Cheryl fought to hold the insurance giant accountable.</p>
<p>“I didn't honestly believe that anyone could beat an insurance company,” Cheryl told <em>A Current Affair</em>.</p>
<p>The Sydney mother-of-three forfeited a $78,000 non-disclosure payout to share her story, in the hope of helping other Australians who have been wronged in the same way.</p>
<p>“I was not going to let them shut me up,” she said.</p>
<p>“There are a lot more people out there that this has happened to."</p>
<p>In 2011, AMP cancelled Lee’s life insurance policy without warning, falsely claiming he had insufficient funds to pay for it.</p>
<p>According to Cheryl, her late husband had “never missed a payment” and had paid close to $80,000 in premiums.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img width="497" height="280" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7818791/2_497x280.jpg" alt="2 (84)"/></p>
<p>If the policy had been in place, the couple would have received the $200,000 payout when Lee was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, eight months before he passed away.</p>
<p>The couple had dreamed of using the money to go on a Europe river cruise but were forced to work right up until Lee’s death, while also trying to fight AMP’s incorrect policy cancellation.</p>
<p>“That policy would have allowed Lee to retire, to spend quality time with his children and myself,” Cheryl said.</p>
<p>“You’re at a loss. You've lost your husband and you look like you're going to lose your home and you're at a loss what to do.”</p>
<p>But Cheryl chose to represent herself and fought AMP and their high-paid lawyers.</p>
<p>In 2014, her persistence paid off when the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal ruled in her favour.</p>
<p>“I had won, but my husband had lost,” Cheryl said. </p>
<p>AMP agreed to pay Cheryl the $200,000 payout. She estimates that she was also owed around $80,000 in interest and costs but AMP said they would only pay the funds if she signed a non-disclosure agreement. </p>
