Shine Lawyers is alleging that financial firms BT, CBA and AMP sold unsuspecting customers overpriced in-house life, income protection and TPD cover – with the practices uncovered in the 2018 banking royal commission.
According to class actions practice leader Craig Allsopp, they did this despite knowing there were equivalent or better policies with lower premiums available through other insurers.
Mr Allsopp said, “We argue all three financial services providers behaved in a way that was unfair and illegal.”
He considered that “the sheer number of people affected by these premium rorts shows we’re not just talking about a few bad apples but systemic misconduct in the industry”.
The class action against AMP has already been filed in the Federal Court of Australia and centres around the AMP Flexible Lifetime Policy that was provided through financial advisers appointed by AMP Financial Planning, Charter Financial Planning or Hillross Financial Services, with anyone who holds or has previously held the policy invited to contact Shine Lawyers.
AMP and Hillross have since acknowledged the class action proceeding and outlined that they will defend the proceedings, stating a commitment to comply with their obligations relating to ensuring their advisers act in the best interests of clients and take these obligations seriously.
In the coming weeks, Shine will also lodge class actions against BT and CBA.
The BT class action will be applicable to any individuals who hold, or have previously held, a BT Super for Life, BT Super for Life Westpac Group, BT SuperWrap, BT SuperWrap Essentials, BT Panorama Super or BT Superannuation Invest Fund plan between 2014 and 2020.
In the case of the CBA class action, individuals who have held a CommInsure life or income protection insurance policy provided through financial advisers appointed by Commonwealth Financial Planning Ltd, Financial Wisdom Ltd, Count Financial Ltd or BW Financial Advice are being invited to come forward.
According to Mr Allsopp, “The amount of money customers lost varies from a couple of hundred to several thousand dollars.”
He explained that running individual legal claims wouldn’t be viable in every case.
“The reality is without class actions supported by litigation funders, most victims would likely never get their money back.”
