The FSCA has fined an unlicensed funeral insurer and the two individuals who ran it a total of R120 000.
FA Allard and Sons Funeral Undertakers, trading as Allard Funeral Fund, operated from two funeral parlours, one in Hanover in the Northern Cape and the other in Elsies River in Cape Town. Both branches offered funeral cover and burial services from 1 January 2019 to 30 November 2020, the Authority said in a statement published on 10 October.
Dario Allard controlled the activities of the Funeral Fund at the Hanover branch, and Haroldine Millicent Roberts controlled the fund’s operations in Elsies River.
The FSCA said its investigation found that the Allard Funeral Fund was not licensed as an insurer in terms of section 5 of the Insurance Act, and its clients were not underwritten by an insurance company.
In addition, the Funeral Fund, Allard, and Roberts were not licensed as financial services providers or appointed as a representatives of an authorised FSP in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act. As such, they conducted unregistered insurance and FAIS business in contravention of the Insurance Act and the FAIS Act.
The FSCA imposed an administrative penalty of R50 000 on Allard Funeral Fund, R50 000 on Roberts, and R20 000 on Allard.
The Authority said it considered that Allard co-operated fully with its investigation and provided evidence in a truthful manner.
The FSCA also considered that the Funeral Fund always honoured claims, and that the business has now regularised.
