Federal Court issues class action notice to NAB customers

The Federal Court of Australia has issued notices to over 400,000 NAB customers, informing them that they may be eligible to join law firm Slater and Gordon’s consumer credit class action.

The class action relates to the alleged mis-selling of personal loan and credit card insurance to NAB and MLC customers.

Slater and Gordon has claimed that the insurance was “of little or no value” to customers who would “never have been eligible to claim against”.

The class action was issued in 2018 in response to the banking royal commission and is based on allegations that NAB engaged in “unconscionable conduct” and “misleading and deceptive conduct”.

Commenting on the Federal Court’s issuance of notices to NAB customers, Slater and Gordon’s practice group leader, Andrew Paull, said: “NAB will have to contact over 400,000 of the customers on their databases, informing them that this class action exists, that the bank is accused of contravening the law and telling them what they have to do to be involved.

“[NAB] knows that using pushy tactics and pressuring vulnerable customers into buying worthless insurance was wrong. They did it anyway and collected millions of dollars in unwarranted premiums in the process.”

The court-ordered letter would also give customers the option of opting out of the class action, if they wished.

In a statement to Mortgage Business, a NAB spokesperson acknowledged the issuance of the court-ordered letter.

“The notices provide those potential class members with information about the class action and their options,” the spokesperson said.

“We are here for our customers and encourage them to contact NAB directly if they have any questions in relation to their CCI policies on 1300 168 909.

“As the matter is now before the court, we are unable to comment further on the class action.”

This follows last month’s announcement from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which revealed that it has commenced enforcement investigations into a number of entities that have been involved in mis-selling consumer credit insurance (CCI), claiming that the design and sale of CCI has “consistently failed consumers”.

The defendants to ASIC’s future action will reportedly be publicly identified at the time proceedings commence. 

[Related: Lenders blasted for ‘consistently failing’ consumers on CCI]