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750k customers could join CommBank class action
The Federal Court has issued more than 750,000 Australians with notices to advise that they may be eligible for a class action against Commonwealth Bank.
Naomi Neilson
Slater and Gordon will represent hundreds and thousands of Commonwealth Bank customers who were sold junk credit card and personal loan insurance that were of little to no value and that many customers would never have been eligible to claim against.
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The firm is alleging that many people were led to believe the insurance was compulsory or free and that others did not realise they were sold it. The insurance was often sold to people with disabilities, those who were unemployed and people who were chronically ill and likely ineligible to claim.
The bank has admitted the products were of little value and while they have said they would provide refunds as part of a remediation program, only a small portion of customers have been compensated.
Slater and Gordon practice group leader Andrew Paull said he hoped the class action would help customers get their money back and keep corporate giants honest.
“The reprehensible behaviour of the Big Banks which preyed on vulnerable people in the community needs to be called out, and the customers need to be compensated,” he said.
“This move to return only a small portion of its customers premiums seems to have been a tokenistic effort to protect the bank’s brand, rather than a genuine attempt to make good its past wrongdoing.”
Customers may be eligible to join the class action if they were issued with a consumer credit insurance policy since 1 January 2010, have paid a premium and have not been paid back in full.
The class action is one of four in the #GetYourInsuranceBack campaign, filed in the Federal Court in June 2020. More than 2 million Australians have now received court-ordered notices advising they may be eligible.
