A Melbourne life adviser plans to sue his former dealer group over unpaid commissions.

Nautical Financial Group Director Rob Guy says WealthSure has withheld two months of commissions in a dispute over access to client files.

“I have instructed my lawyers to pursue the outstanding payments from WealthSure because they are ignoring my requests for settlement,” Mr Guy told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“We recently said they could pay $10,000 [of the outstanding commissions] to access the files they want, but that has been ignored.”

The dispute began when WealthSure requested access to five client files on July 5, as part of an audit.

Mr Guy says he wrote to tell the group he was away on holiday and could return on July 30 to allow access.

“WealthSure turned up on July 5, despite me being away, and were told they couldn’t access the files because the cabinets were locked and I am the only person with a key,” Mr Guy said.

“Then WealthSure Victorian State Manager Glen Downey wrote to me asking for another four files and [said] if I didn’t comply they would cancel my authorised representative (AR) agreement, report me to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for failing to provide the files and withhold all commissions.”

Mr Guy says he wrote to Mr Downey offering to cut his holiday short and be available on July 10.

The files were copied and delivered to WealthSure’s Victorian office. A copy of a receipt of the documents signed by Mr Downey has been seen by insuranceNEWS.com.au.

Mr Guy says WealthSure stopped his commission payments on July 17 without any notice, discussion or correspondence.

“WealthSure did not discuss any issues with me, nor do I believe they have reported them to ASIC,” he said. “The response was for WealthSure to ask for more files and I said they could come to my office to review the files under supervision.”

Mr Guy wrote to WealthSure asking for the nine files to be returned and outstanding commission payments to be made.

On the same day WealthSure cancelled Mr Guy’s AR agreement and demanded all client files be sent to it by July 30.

“I responded by saying WealthSure could inspect the requested files at my Port Melbourne office but we would require a $10,000 part-payment of the outstanding commissions first,” he said. “WealthSure compliance people did visit the office and started copying files but kept asking for more, despite the $10,000 not being paid.”

Mr Guy has now become an AR of Lotus Securities. A Lotus spokesman says it has withdrawn authority for the files to be copied until the matter is settled.

“We were allowing WealthSure access but they haven’t kept their side of the bargain, so that authority is now withdrawn,” the spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

Mr Guy says he has had no disputes with insurers or WealthSure in the past. He has been selling life insurance for more than 30 years and joined WealthSure in March 2007.

“I have built my business up over the years, including buying two MLC books before I joined WealthSure,” he said. “The clients were all existing before I joined WealthSure so they have no right to withhold commissions from my life book.”

WealthSure CEO Darren Pawski did not return calls from insuranceNEWS.com.au.