Clientèle Life employee debarred after misleading woman seeking loan into taking funeral policy - IOL

Tribunal upholds debarment of Clientèle consultant who misled woman over funeral policy.

A former Clientèle Life Assurance sales consultant has been debarred from providing financial services after the Financial Services Tribunal found that he misled a client who believed she was applying for a loan into taking out a funeral policy instead.

The tribunal dismissed Keamogetswe Khanya Nkosi’s application to reconsider his debarment by Clientèle Life, finding that the evidence against him was uncontradicted and established improper conduct.

The decision was recently handed down by a panel comprising Judge LTC Harms and Adv O Tongoane.

According to the ruling, Nkosi, who was an authorised representative and sales consultant employed by Clientèle Life, spoke telephonically to a client in April 2026.

The client confirmed during the conversation that she had previously applied for a loan.

However, the tribunal found that Nkosi failed to tell her that the call was actually about a funeral policy and not a loan.

He also obtained her consent for a debit order without informing her that it related to a funeral policy.

The client ultimately signed up for Clientèle’s Ultimate Dignity Plan instead of obtaining a loan.

The tribunal said the recorded telephone conversation was subsequently used during the disciplinary and debarment proceedings.

It found that Nkosi did not identify the company he was calling from or explain that the purpose of the call was to offer a funeral plan rather than a loan.

During the call, he offered the client two “cash pay-out” options of R23,000 and R43,000, with monthly premiums of R458 and R536 respectively.

However, the ruling found that Nkosi did not explain whether these options related to a funeral policy or a loan.

The tribunal further found that key words in the sales script, including “insurance cover”, were muffled on the recording, while important disclosures were read quickly.

When the client asked about the term of the loan, Nkosi allegedly dissuaded her from asking.

He also failed to properly explain the importance of appointing a beneficiary to the policy, instead describing the beneficiary as someone the client could trust with her finances.

Clientèle investigated the conduct and, on May 20, 2026, issued Nkosi with a notice to attend a disciplinary hearing on a charge of “seriously dishonest practice”.

He was also notified that his debarment would be considered at the same time.

Both the disciplinary and debarment proceedings were conducted through written submissions.

On June 8, 2026, Nkosi was found guilty and his employment was terminated with immediate effect. It was further recommended that he be debarred because he no longer met the “fit and proper” requirements under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act.

Nkosi challenged the debarment, denying that he had acted dishonestly or intentionally misled the client.

He argued that there was insufficient evidence to support the decision and that Clientèle had failed to take into account his version, training, understanding of the sales process and the role played by management.

He also argued that the debarment was too harsh and unreasonable.

However, the tribunal noted that Nkosi had received and passed Clientèle’s induction training before starting his employment and had also passed a readiness assessment confirming that he was suitable to perform his duties.

The tribunal said the issue before it was whether Nkosi no longer met the fit-and-proper requirements relating to honesty and integrity under the FAIS Act.

It found that the evidence relied upon by Clientèle was uncontradicted and proved impropriety on Nkosi’s part.

The Tribunal also said that, apart from alleging that he had been singled out and victimised and claiming that management had accepted his sales approach, Nkosi had provided no plausible defence to rebut the transcript of the telephone call.

“There can be no grounds to interfere with” the debarment decision, the tribunal concluded.

Nkosi’s application for reconsideration was therefore dismissed.