The corporate regulator says the country’s biggest superannuation funds are failing grieving families by making it extraordinarily difficult to access the savings and insurance benefits of customers who have died, after a review of the sector found poor service and long delays are the norm.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Joe Longo said the boards of the biggest retirement savings managers were sleepwalking into a crisis, with one of the 10 funds reviewed by the regulator paying just 8 per cent of requests within three months of a death.