The Federal Court is sending out notifications to nearly half a million Australians from today to advise that they may be eligible for representation in a consumer credit class action.
The action, being run by Slater and Gordon against National Australia Bank (NAB), will see at least one in every 50 adult Australians receive the notice as customers of the bank.
The law firm said it will be representing “potentially hundreds of thousands of NAB customers who were sold junk credit card and personal loan insurance that was of little or no value and that many customers would never have been eligible to claim against”.
The class action, which will operate on a “no win, no fee” basis, was first issued back in 2018 after the banking royal commission received allegations that the bank had engaged in unconscionable conduct and misleading and deceptive conduct.
As one of the largest court-ordered notices in Australian legal history, Slater and Gordon’s Andrew Paull said, “NAB will have to contact over 400,000 of the customers on their databases today, informing them that this class action exists, that the bank is accused of contravening the law and telling them what they have to do to be involved”.
“If you are, or have been, a NAB customer in the past, keep an eye out for this letter, which will advise you of how to register your interest in participating in the class action,” Mr Paull said.
The letter will give customers the option of opting out of the class action, if they so choose, Mr Paull explained.
“NAB knows that using pushy tactics and pressuring vulnerable customers into buying worthless insurance was wrong. They did it anyway and collected millions of dollars in unwarranted premiums in the process,” the lawyer continued.
The class action, while originally slated to provide recourse for credit card customers, will also include people who were sold a similar type of insurance for personal loans, Slater and Gordon said.
Responding to the news, a spokesperson from NAB commented: “We are here for our customers and encourage them to contact NAB directly if they have any questions in relation to their CCI policies on 1300 168 909.”
“Notices relating to the class action proceedings commenced by Slater and Gordon against National Australia Bank (NAB) and MLC Ltd (MLCL) have been distributed to potential class members as part of the court process,” they continued.
“The notices provide those potential class members with information about the class action and their options.”
“As the matter is now before the court, we are unable to comment further on the class action,” the spokesperson concluded.
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