Insurance

It was “fundamentally wrong” that AMP Financial Planning paid consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers significantly more to review a court-ordered remediation than was paid to customers who suffered loss after an adviser churned life insurance policies for higher commissions, a judge has said.

A class action of bond holders accusing Virgin Australia of failing to disclose its true financial position in a 2019 prospectus for a capital raising wants a contentious indemnity clause in the airline’s DOCA narrowed, in proceedings a judge has said “increasingly resemble a farce”.

Appeals and cross-appeals are flying over a judge’s finding that engineering services firm CIMIC Group can pursue insurance claims for costs arising from allegations it engaged in corrupt practices, including a $32 million class action settlement.

A judge has ordered MLC to pay $10 million for its “serious failure” to pay life insurance benefits to customers undergoing rehabilitation, in an ASIC case that also alleged the insurer failed to promptly update medical terms in policies.

A judge has ordered contractor JKC Australia to hand over legal advice relating to a settlement deed it entered with Japanese oil company Inpex in 2021, as it seeks to hold Dutch paint company AkzoNobel NV responsible for its “significant” potential liability under the settlement.

A fed-up judge has vented his frustration with the problem of competing class actions in a move that appears to punish the second filed case against Medibank. But is he right that the courts are increasingly being asked to deal with duplicative proceedings? And was his order really all that drastic?

National law firm Meridian Lawyers has nabbed two senior practitioners from McCabes for its insurance group, less than a month after luring 14 lawyers and staff from its competitor.

A judge aggrieved by the “plague” of competing class actions in the courts has temporarily stayed a second data breach class action against Medibank, and directed the health insurer to ask the privacy commissioner to drop the investigation of a third case.

A judge overseeing an investor class action over the collapse of advisory firm Linchpin Capital has questioned whether he has to “effectively second guess” a law firm’s advice given to group members about a partial settlement. 

Insurance Australia has agreed to pay a $40 million penalty in a case by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleging it short-changed NRMA customers a staggering $60 million in promised loyalty discounts.