CBA Consumer Credit Insurance Class Action

A class action is a type of legal proceeding in which one or more persons, the Applicant(s), brings a claim on behalf of a wider group of people who have been affected by the same or similar conduct. By grouping claims together and pursuing them collectively, the overall value of the claim makes it economically worthwhile to do so, even in circumstances where the value of individual claims is modest.

The class action has now settled with all Respondents for $50 million.

You may be a Group Member in the CBA CCI Class Action if, at any time since 1 January 2010, you were:

• issued with a CBA CreditCard Plus or Personal Loan Protection policy;
• have paid a premium; and
• have not been remediated in full for the loss you suffered as a result of the Respondents’ conduct.

To participate in the CBA CCI Class Action settlement distribution, Group Members were required to register through the Portal to determine whether they are eligible for compensation and, if so, how much they are entitled to receive.

Notwithstanding the above, please be aware that the deadline for Group Members to register their interest to receive potential compensation was 12:00pm AEST on 29 May 2023. This deadline was imposed by the Court. As such, the registration portal has now closed.

Slater and Gordon, assisted by Deloitte, are preparing to distribute the settlement funds to each registered Group Member who is eligible for compensation.

Each eligible Group Member who has registered for compensation will be paid their portion from the settlement fund. We anticipate that the distribution of settlement funds to eligible Group Members will commence from from February 2024.

Group Members had until 3 November 2023 to appeal the settlement decision. The appeal period has now passed. For more information, Group Members may also contact the Federal Court directly.

No. This class action is being run on a No Win, No Fee basis.

The legal and administrative costs incurred by the Applicant have been approved by the Court and will be deducted from the global settlement sum. This means that if you are a participant in the class action and chose to remain a Group Member, you will never be out-of-pocket for legal costs.

In Australia, class action proceedings are typically commenced on an ‘open class’ basis, which means that you are included in the class action if you meet the Group Member definition, unless you take active steps to remove yourself from the proceeding by completing an ‘opt out’ notice telling the Court that you do not wish to participate.

The Federal Court of Australia made orders on 16 February 2021 requiring Group Members to take steps to remove themselves from the proceeding (known as “opting out”). The deadline to opt out was 4.00pm AEDT on 9 April 2021 (Opt Out Deadline), which has now passed.

If you did opt out of the proceeding, you are no longer a Group Member or part of the class action. This means that you will not be entitled to any benefit or compensation that may be obtained in the class action. However, you still have the right to bring your own claim against CBA and its insurers if you wish to do so.

If you did not opt out and do not register, then you will not receive any compensation. This is because we will not be able to determine any amount that may be payable to you. You are therefore bound by the outcome of the settlement and will not be able to bring similar claims against CBA and its insurers.

Group Members who registered for compensation will have received a Notice of Estimated Distribution in June 2023 containing an estimate of the compensation they are likely to receive.

We expect the calculation of individual compensation amounts for eligible group members to be completed by end of January, with payments commencing from February.

Payments will be processed in batches of 10,000 per day. Due to the impact of public holidays on bank processing times, and that any payment needs to be accepted by your nominated bank, it is difficult to provide exact dates for when individual payments will appear in bank accounts.

The deadline for Group Members to register their interest to receive potential compensation was 12:00pm AEST on 29 May 2023. This deadline was imposed by the court. As such, the registration portal has now closed.

The parties attended the settlement approval hearing in August 2023. The Federal Court made orders approving the proposed settlement on 15 September 2023 following the Settlement Approval Hearing as it was satisfied that the settlement is fair and reasonable and in the best interests of Group Members. We anticipate that the distribution of settlement funds to eligible Group Members will commence from February 2024.