Outraged LV members shut out of online AGM due to ‘technical fault’
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Outraged LV members banned from attending online AGM due to ‘technical error’ in wake of botched private equity takeover
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LV is facing a new response from customers after members were banned from the online annual meeting.
The life insurer would be allowed to question the board for the first time since the disastrous takeover by private equity shark Bain Capital last year.
But after encouraging members to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) online rather than attend the Bournemouth venue in person, LV succumbed to a massive technology glitch.
While confused members struggled with the online portal, they were unable to determine whether the questions they submitted were being satisfactorily answered.
Technical issues: LV would question shareholders for the first time since the catastrophic takeover by private equity shark Bain Capital collapsed last year
Many didn’t ask any questions at all because they couldn’t watch the AGM.
An error message appeared on the screen stating: “We are very sorry that the AGM online stream was not available today due to the ongoing technical outage.” Clarissa Johnson, an LV member, said, “A fiasco is the only way to describe it. It’s a farce – you couldn’t write it.’
Relations between LV and many of its member-owners broke down last year when then-chairman Alan Cook and chief executive Mark Hartigan pushed for the acquisition of Bain.
This would mean that LV loses its cherished mutual status, meaning it is owned by its customers, and is instead picked up by a profit-hungry investor.
It was a long way from its origins in 1843, helping the poor of Liverpool pay for a decent burial for their families.
Members grew even more suspicious of the Bain deal when it emerged that Hartigan would receive a generous pay package if he remained under the new owners.
But Cook has since been replaced by Simon Moore and Hartigan by former Bupa UK boss David Hynam.
A video recording of the meeting later appeared on the website. Moore, who was unable to attend the AGM due to a contract with Covid, assured investors in a pre-recorded video message of his commitment to reciprocity.
He said, ‘We are here to make a mutual future work for you.’
He also said he would “put LV members at the heart of what we do.” But customers were skeptical about LV’s plan to leave the Board of Members, a 30-member panel that met twice a year with the board to monitor how the company was run.
LV wants to replace it with an online community that anyone can join.
However, Johnson pointed out that most of LV’s customers are older, less tech-savvy, and would likely have been put off by the failure of the online AGM. LV has been contacted for comment.