All Prudential policy holders hit by excess deductions refunded by Friday afternoon

PRUDENTIAL Singapore policy holders affected by Giro deductions in excess of their insurance premiums were refunded by Friday afternoon.

A spokesman for Standard Chartered Bank Singapore said: "As Prudential's payment bank, we acted immediately and contacted all the respective banks servicing the impacted Prudential policy holders to reverse the transactions. As of 1.15pm this afternoon, we have been informed by all the respective banks that all inaccurately deducted amounts have been refunded to the policy holders."

Separately, Prudential confirmed refunds to all affected accounts had been successfully completed by the afternoon, adding that "customer polices were not affected in any way".

"We thank all our customers for their support as we worked to resolve this speedily," a Prudential spokesmain said in a media release.

The insurer on Thursday disclosed the erroneous deductions which it blamed on a "technical glitch". Some wrong deductions were in excess of bank balances, resulting in failed Giro deductions. One policy holder told an online forum that Prudential had tried to deduct S$16,800 from his bank account when his premium was S$168.

Prudential on Thursday said any interest lost would be refunded.

Affected policy holders requiring further assistance can call Prudential's customer hotline on 1800-333-0-333.