Julian Sexton

Class action settlement sums reached new highs last year, with the ten largest agreements totalling almost $1 billion, almost half of which was secured by one plaintiff law firm.

The Australian supplier of alleged combustible cladding is opposing a class action applicant’s bid for information ahead of settlement talks on the quantity of cladding sold in the country between 2009 and 2019.

In one of the year’s biggest class action settlements, PTTEP Australasia has agreed to pay $192.5 million to settle a representative action over a 2009 oil spill that affected 15,000 Indonesian seaweed farmers.

PTTEP Australasia has settled a class action over one of Australia’s largest oil spills, more than a year after a judge ruled that the oil exploration company breached its duty of care to 15,000 Indonesian seaweed farmers and damaged their livelihoods.

Property owners are fighting arguments that claims in a class action over allegedly combustible cladding do not fall under a $190 million insurance policy’s definition of property damage, saying installing the cladding was like “dousing one’s house in kerosene”.

Insurer for cladding manufacturer Fairview Architectural, Vero Insurance, will argue a $190 million policy does not cover claims in a class action alleging combustible cladding caused losses for property owners, a court has heard.

UK automotive distributor Inchcape has challenged a judgment that put insurer Chubb on the hook for some but not all of the financial losses stemming from a cyberattack that allegedly caused $4 million in loss.

Fired underwriter Greg Brereton has been granted an extension to respond to lawsuits targeting Insurance Australia Group over trade credit policies covering $4.6 billion in loans issued by collapsed Greensill Capital. 

Oil exploration company PTTEP has argued 15,000 Indonesian seaweed farmers who brought a class action alleging their crops were damaged after an oil spill in the Timor Sea will need to individually persuade the court to allow their claims out of time.

A judge who lashed “unsatisfactory cooperation” between Chubb and British automotive distributor Inchcape has found the insurer’s policy covers some but not all costs stemming from a cyber attack which allegedly caused over $4 million in loss.