Personal lines insurers which rely on call centres to sell policies seem to be treading a fine line in complying with the Financial Services Reform Act (FSRA).

A financial services panel discussion hosted by business process management company UCMS has found that the level of disclosure in call centres is questionable.

The FSRA requires that a retail client receive a product disclosure statement before acquiring a financial product. But call centre staff give this information verbally, which makes it hard to absorb, according to the panel.

UCMS CEO John Paddick says that in many cases the volume of information communicated during a phone call affects the call duration, which is monitored by insurers to track employee performance.

“The danger is that companies will actually lose the value of the content by trying to get information across too quickly,” Mr Paddick said.

The panel has presented its findings to Ross Cameron, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Mr Cameron – who admittedly has other things on his mind at present – says he will consider the comments. “I think my job is trying to make the thing work and hit the targets we set without creating a whole lot of innocent and mindless cost burdens to industry.”