Insurers may face a class action by holders of business interruption insurance that have had their COVID-19-related claims rejected, following their loss in a test case over whether an infectious disease exclusion in business interruption cover applies to coronavirus-related claims.
A Victoria Supreme Court judge hearing two competing class actions against Allianz Australia over “junk” insurance has asked the parties for feedback on what she should consider at a hearing on a request for a group costs order, which would allow the plaintiff lawyers to earn a cut of any settlement or judgment, the first such request made since Victoria legalised contingency fees.
Insurers will face a flood of pandemic-related claims after an appeals court ruled in a test case brought by the Insurance Council that certain infectious disease exclusions in business interruption cover do not apply to coronavirus-related claims.
Insurer Liberty Mutual is challenging its loss in a coverage dispute with construction company Icon Co over $31 million in losses stemming from Sydney’s Opal Tower, whose residents were evacuated after cracks appeared in the tower’s walls on Christmas Eve in 2018.
A second class action has been filed against insurance giant Allianz seeking compensation for consumers alleged to have been ripped off by “worthless” add-on car insurance.
The Federal Court’s top judge has cautioned ASIC and insurers Allianz and AWP against presenting a “bastardised form of pleading” in the financial watchdog’s action over the alleged misleading sale of travel insurance to over 31,000 consumers.
An amicus curiae will be appointed by the court to argue against a common fund order application by the funder backing a class action against two Insurance Australia Group subsidiaries, after the insurance giant agreed to a $138 million settlement last month.
Funeral insurer ACBF Funeral Plans and parent company Youpla Group are facing legal action from the corporate regulator alleging they breached financial service laws by making false claims in a funeral insurance policy sold primarily to Aboriginal consumers.
Construction firm Icon Co has won a coverage dispute with its insurers over $31 million in losses stemming from Sydney’s ill-fated Opal Tower, whose residents were evacuated after cracks appeared in the tower’s walls on Christmas Eve in 2018.
AIG has settled a lawsuit brought by Kaboko Mining against several former directors alleging they failed to exploit commercial opportunities, after the insurer failed to convince an appeals court that an insolvency exclusion in the company’s D&O policy should exempt it from covering the claims.