Medibank is now facing at least five consumer and shareholder class actions, including two run by Baker McKenzie and Slater & Gordon.

Phi Finney McDonald is seeking compensation for shareholders and said it is separate from privacy litigation brought by Medibank customers whose personal and health information was breached.

The firm’s principal lawyer, Cameron Myers, said they have considered there are grounds for legal action following preliminary investigations.

“Medibank’s customers and shareholders quite rightly expected the company, as one of Australia’s largest private health insurers, to take adequate steps to protect the incredibly sensitive information it held.

“Indeed, Medibank fostered this belief by informing the market that it had appropriate protections in place,” Mr Myers said.

In October 2022, Medibank issued an ASX statement that there had been a breach of personal data from approximately 9.7 million current and former Medibank customers and its related entities.

It claimed 480,000 customers’ health claims data was accessed during this breach, with hackers since making this information available.

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The firm’s class action has alleged the insurance provider engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and breached its continuous disclosure obligations in relation to the adequacy of its privacy and information security protections, it said in a statement.

“This market was clearly concerned about the distress and related impact on customers whose data had been accessed, and what that meant for company costs and revenue,” Mr Myers said.

“Based on our preliminary investigations, we believe that Medibank shareholders are entitled to be compensated for losses suffered from the erosion of trust and confidence in Medibank once the true state of affairs was acutely exposed.”