ING sends incorrect statements to 75,000 VA customers

Thousands of clients who own an ING Groep NV variable annuity received incorrect third quarter statements late last week. About 15% of the insurer's VA customers – 75,000 – people received statements that had wrong customer names, incorrect balances and other inaccuracies. ING became aware of the mistakes last Thursday and has since sent out corrected statements in the mail to the affected clients. Dana Ripley, a spokesman for ING, would not disclose what caused clients to receive the incorrect information, but added that “I'm confident that we've determined the cause of the error, and we're addressing it.” Notification to broker-dealers is currently underway, Mr. Ripley said. One broker, who asked not to be identified, found out about the mistake when he and his wife received their statements on Friday. His VA statement had someone else's name and details, while his wife's account statement was depicted as having no money in it. In reality, she has $80,000 in her VA. The adviser worried that if he had a stranger's information, then perhaps someone else had his. Mr. Ripley confirmed, however, that private details – namely, Social Security numbers – were not released on the account statements. Affected customers are eligible for a year of free credit monitoring services as a precaution, Mr. Ripley said.