1 January date of birth error

We identified some errors where members had an incorrect date of birth of 1 January recorded in our system and we are correcting this. This meant that for some of those affected the premium was incorrectly calculated and, in some instances, this resulted in an overpayment of premium.

We’re in the process of contacting affected members and employer groups so we’re able to refund any overpayment. This refund will also include an allowance for the ‘time value of money’ (based on the time between overpayment and the refund being made).

What do you need to do?

If this impacts you, you’ll receive an email or letter from us requesting information so we can correct the error and confirm next steps:

  • If you are entitled to a refund and we have your bank account on record, we’ll confirm that account as the one we’ll be paying the refund into.

You won’t need to do anything (unless you want the refund to be paid to a different bank account, in which case you need to tell us), and you’ll receive the refund.

  • If we don’t have your bank account details or you want us to pay the refund into a different account, we’ll be asking you to complete this form.

Once we receive your completed form, we will refund you within 10 working days.

Provide your bank details Verify your date of birth

If we haven’t been in touch and you think you might be affected, please contact us.

FAQs

  • Who receives the refund?

    The refund is made to the bank account provided or confirmed by the policyholder.

  • If my date of birth is incorrect, does this mean that you owe me money?

    Not necessarily. If your actual date of birth fell on a date after your annual policy renewal, we may need to provide you with a refund.

  • You’ve contacted me and I need to correct my date of birth – it’s not 1 January. What do I need to do?

    If you, or a family member on your policy has their date of birth incorrectly recorded, please complete the verify your date of birth form with the correct birth date/s and your bank account details. If we identify that you've overpaid premium due to this error, we'll confirm the amount and make a refund to your bank account.

  • What happens if correcting my date of birth from 1 January means that I’ve been underpaying my premium?

    For any premium underpaid to date we will not be seeking repayment from you. We’ll be in contact to confirm your correct premium for payments going forward.

  • Why was my date of birth incorrect to begin with?

    Prior to 2004 only the year of birth was recorded rather than the exact birth date. In 2004 we changed how we calculated premium and as part of this change, we confirmed (‘validated’) members’ dates of birth and updated these in our system. Most members were updated at that time, however for those members that we only had the year of birth for, the date of 1 January was entered as a ‘proxy’ date. Every year when we send the annual policy renewal, we provide the dates of birth and ask the policyholder to check these and contact us if any are incorrect, however this process hasn’t resulted in all incorrect dates of birth being corrected.

  • Why was I not advised of this error before?

    For some members we were aware of the issue earlier but for others it has only become apparent recently.

  • How much could I get as a refund?

    Once we know your correct date of birth, we can calculate what your premium should have been. The calculation takes into account what we had on file for your date of birth, your actual date of birth and where your policy renewal date falls in relation to these. The calculation also takes into account the length of time the date of birth wasn’t correct.

  • How much does each member get?

    We’ll be refunding the total amount of overpaid premium on the policy.

  • What if several members on my policy have incorrect dates of birth?

    We’ll confirm this with you and for any member/s that have been affected by overpaid premiums we’ll refund this amount to you and let you know.

  • What does “the time value of money” mean?

    We recognise that you may have overpaid premium for a long period of time. Because of this, your refund includes an allowance for this period.