A young woman says she’s learned an important lesson after her superannuation fund lost 20 years of contributions.
Kate Fowler, from Melbourne, told Daily Mail Australia her ordeal began in May this year when she was unable to log in to her Hostplus account.
When the 35-year-old called the super fund’s hotline, the customer service agent said her account ‘didn’t exist’, leaving her stomach in knots.
Ms Fowler said her anxiety and panic turned to anger as she waited to speak to a supervisor.
Her inbox had dozens of marketing emails from Hostplus and her pay slips had contributions made in her name each week, but there was worse news to come.
‘They told me the account must have been closed and the funds sent to the ATO,’ Ms Fowler said.
‘I knew that wasn’t true because my MyGov account was showing the funds should be with Hostplus and I had a pay slip showing that my employer had contributed funds with the last few weeks.
‘For a second I wondered if I was being scammed, but that seemed unlikely because I had called the official Hostplus phone number on the website.’
While on the phone, Ms Fowler, who has been with Hostplus since 2009, said she was so angry that she ‘couldn’t even think straight’.
The supervisor told her to put all of her information including her account number in writing via email, so they could confirm her identity.
She then made a strange discovery.
‘They responded with a password protected document but the password was meant to be my birth date, and I couldn’t open it,’ she continued.
‘So I figured that was the issue, they had got me to prove my identity with my birth date, and they had one on file that didn’t match.’
As it turns out, a second Hostplus account had been opened on Ms Fowler’s behalf but her birth date had been entered incorrectly. At some point the accounts were merged and the incorrect birth date remained on file.
Luckily all the money was found.
‘I was a little surprised, because I would have thought they would verify that kind of thing against the ATO records,’ she said.
Ms Fowler admitted she’s always ‘buried her head in the sand’ when it comes to money up until recently.
She now always wants to know where her hard-earned dollars are going and how her super is tracking.
‘The point of this long-winded story is don’t get complacent with your superannuation. Check it thoroughly at least at tax time but preferably quarterly,’ she said.
‘Make sure you can access it and see the balance, make sure your details are correct and up to date, make sure they’re not charging you for insurance you don’t need.
‘Most importantly merge all your funds into one so you’re getting the maximum returns. It’s real money that you’re going to want to have access to at retirement age.
‘We should all be educated about where it’s going and how to manage it. Especially for any younger women who feel they want to take control of their finances.’
A Hostplus spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: ‘Hostplus has worked with the member and this matter has now been resolved. For privacy and security reasons, we cannot provide further comment.’
According to UniSuper, women between 35 and 39 tend to have an estimated $75,785 towards their super while men have $95,937.
The amount varies depending on whether you work full-time or part-time hours.
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