AAMI fined $43,000 over misleading ads … Aldi responds to reports it banned school kids from store … Online retail sales expected to double 

Insurance provider AAMI has paid $43,200 in fines after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found its website and radio ads included false or misleading statements about one of its home insurance products.

ASIC confirmed on Wednesday it had taken issue with the promotion of its Home Building Insurance “Complete Replacement” cover.

The ads stated AAMI would repair or rebuild a house that was insured under the policy, no matter the cost to AAMI. The watchdog claimed this implied the insurer would handle all arrangements for a rebuild or repair, whereas the policyholder may actually be responsible for arranging the details of this.

Acting ASIC chair Peter Kell said in a statement that because consumers often make decisions on insurance cover based on what is advertised, it is important to make it clear how claims will be paid.

Online shopping growth set to double: Analysts

Amazon Australia is reportedly just hours away from a soft launch and retail analysts are predicting the events of this week will transform Australia’s online retail space for decades to come.

Analysts and UBS have predicted the entry will see an acceleration of online sales across the country, with a paper from Ben Gilbert at UBS suggesting online sales will jump from its current 12% of non-food purchases to 19% by 2023.

Gilbert also predicted the growth of online sales would double after Amazon’s launch, with expected increases on the 13% annual growth rate for online retails seen so far this year, reports Fairfax.

Aldi responds to reports it banned school kids from store

Discount department store Aldi has responded after video of a Victorian store manager kicking a school boy out of a store in Mornington surfaced yesterday.

News.com.au reports the video shows a store manager asking a high school student to leave, reporting that Mornington Secondary College students had been responsible for shoplifting at the store and were no longer welcome.

The mother of the student took to Facebook to explain he was “treated like a criminal” when entering the store to buy lunch for a school excursion.

A spokesperson from Aldi Australia told News.com.au that is accepted banning students from a store was not a “viable solution” to concerns about shoplifting. It said it would continue to work with the school and the ban had been lifted.