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 this month. About 15% of ING's VA customers, or 75,000 people, received statements that had wrong customer names, incorrect balances and other inaccuracies. ING became aware of the mistakes Oct. 4 and has since mailed corrected statements to the affected clients. Dana Ripley, a spokesman for ING, declined to disclose what caused clients to receive the incorrect information, but said: “I'm confident that we've determined the cause of the error, and we're addressing it.” Notification to broker-dealers is under way, he said. One broker, who asked not to be identified, found out about the mistake when he and his wife received their statements Oct. 5. His VA statement had someone else's name and details, while his wife's account statement was depicted as having no money in it, though she has $80,000 in her VA. The broker 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 — weren't released on the account statements. Affected customers are eligible for a year of free credit monitoring services as a precaution, he said. dmercado@investmentnews.com Twitter: @darla_mercado