Centennial Money client Stephen Thomson awaits $150k from compo scheme of last resort
Sydney’s Stephen Thomson was badgered into buying an investment property he couldn’t afford, in breach of lending laws. Under a new $250m government scheme, he may finally be compensated.
NSW
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Up to $250 million owed to victims of failed or dodgy financial firms is finally nearing the point of being paid under a long-awaited “compensation scheme of last resort”.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of Australians have been left substantially out of pocket after these companies either collapsed or ignored rulings by the official complaints authority.
Among them is Stephen Thomson, owed $157,000 by Parramatta-based Centennial Money, which pushed him into buying a Queensland investment property he could not afford.
“They just kept ringing and ringing and ringing,” Mr Thomson, of St Marys in Sydney’s west, told The Daily Telegraph.
Eventually he agreed to the purchase in 2017, believing it would one day help his twin daughters.
However, the loan repayments were too high and he had to sell two years later at a huge loss.
Mr Thomson took the matter to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.
In June last year, AFCA ruled Centennial Money breached its obligations to lend responsibly as well as use due care and skill.
But Centennial Money’s sole director Nevenka Lovric — also known as Natasha Lovrich — has yet to pay. The company has been expelled from the AFCA scheme.
Ms Lovric said she was not involved in Mr Thomson’s property purchase. Records show she only became Centennial’s director in June last year, following the death of her husband Gerd Rolf Mertes.
He ran the business and dealt with Mr Thomson.
“There’s no evilness here — not by my husband and certainly not by me,” Ms Lovric said.
She said she was attempting to claim under her late husband’s professional indemnity insurance.
“Everything I am doing is to get this right for Mr Thomson, not to get this wrong,” Ms Lovric said. “I could have just decided to close shop and walk away.”
But Mr Thomson is not hopeful Ms Lovric’s actions will see him get what he is owed.
If he is right, he will have to rely on the compensation scheme of last resort.
The federal government sought expert recommendations on such a scheme in 2017, but draft legislation was only made public two weeks ago.
“Treasury and the government have been dragging their feet,” Financial Rights Legal Centre (FRLC) senior policy officer Julia Davis said.
“But now the scheme is so close to being a reality. And really, it’s for exactly this situation,” Ms Davis said.
The maximum the scheme can raise from finance sector levies is $250 million, and the cap on individual payouts is $150,000.
Ms Davis said the scheme should start in July 2022.
Been scammed or ripped off? Email publicdefender@dailytelegraph.com.au
Originally published as Centennial Money client Stephen Thomson awaits $150k from compo scheme of last resort
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