AMP has hit back at fees for no service court proceedings brought by ASIC, arguing it was legally entitled to charge customers premiums and advice fees for life insurance after they died.
Insurers Lloyds Australia and QBE want class actions by policyholders who were denied business interruption coverage for COVID-related shutdowns stayed until a related test case in the Federal Court is decided.
A court has ruled that labour hire firm CoreStaff cannot rely on its professional indemnity insurance to cover judgment against it in an employment class action alleging itmisled workers who relocated from Papua New Guinea to Australia for work.
Controversial legislation advanced by the Morrison government that will weaken the country’s continuous disclosure laws and make it harder to bring shareholder class actions has cleared the Senate.
The Federal Court has given the greenlight to a $30 million settlement in Shine Lawyers’ insurance class action against Westpac and will allow post-settlement registration notices to be sent to group members.
The former senior counsel in a settled insurance class action against Westpac has had his fees reduced by $70,000 after the Federal Court heard some of the work for which he charged was not done in the interests of group members.
The Star Entertainment Group will not be able to recoup losses at its casinos and hotels stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, after a judge found the company’s $4 billion industrial special risks policy did not cover financial losses from government-imposed restrictions.
Financial services giant Willis Towers Watson ordered a former executive to lie to clients on his way out of the organisation and imposed an “unreasonable” two-year employment restraint, a NSW Supreme Court has found.
Brick by brick, the claim that funded class actions are the primary driver of rising directors’ liability insurance premiums is being dismantled. Even more precarious is the claim that the Commonwealth government’s continuous disclosure reforms are the answer and will result in enormous savings for Australian business, says Omni Bridgeway managing director and CEO Andrew Saker.
A judge has put off next month’s trial in one of two class actions brought by local councils against insurance JLT Risk Solutions over allegedly excessive premiums, but said the adjournment application would likely have failed if either side had put up a fight.