AAI & MTA car dealer add-on insurance class action

If the Court approves the settlement, then:

1. some of the settlement sum will be used to pay legal costs (25% of the settlement sum), a reimbursement payment to the plaintiff ($30,000), and
2. the costs of administering payment of the settlement sum (estimated at $1.4 million (including GST)).

All of the above costs need to be approved by the Court before they can be deducted from the settlement sum.

The rest of the settlement sum will be shared proportionately between eligible registered group members, according to a loss assessment formula approved by the Court. This is set out in the plaintiff's proposed settlement distribution scheme. 

A copy of the proposed settlement distribution scheme is available here, but the formula referred to above is confidential and is not shown in this copy. If you are a group member, you may obtain a copy of the confidential annexure containing the formula by filling out and submitting this form.

We are unable to provide group members with an estimate of the amount of money they will receive, if found eligible to participate in the proposed settlement. Registration does not guarantee that you will receive compensation.

Compensation amounts will depend on a range of factors including individual circumstances, such as the price of your policy and when you purchased it. 

If the settlement is approved, we will contact registered group members in relation to next steps. We cannot provide an estimate of when you will receive your compensation at this time.

Most group members were required to register or opt-out in this class action by 18 June 2024. These group members were sent a Notice of Registration or Opt-Out in around March-April 2024.

The deadline was extended for a small cohort of people. These people were notified on 1 August 2024 by SMS and were required to register by 21 August 2024.

If you are a group member, the deadline applicable to you is stated in the Notice you received.

If you registered between the two deadlines, you may be required to provide further information at a later date.

If you registered after the deadline applicable to you, you are a late registrant. 

Court orders required group members to register before the applicable deadlines in order to be eligible to participate in a settlement.

Group members who registered after the applicable deadline are not eligible to receive potential compensation unless the Court makes a further order. But they are still bound by the settlement, meaning they will not be able to sue the defendants for the issues covered by the class action.

If you registered late, there is nothing you need to do at this stage. Maurice Blackburn will notify you if the Court permits any late registrations to be accepted.

No. Only group members who registered by the applicable deadlines may be eligible to receive compensation, unless the Court grants permission otherwise.

If you opted out, you are no longer a group member in this class action. This means you are not eligible to receive any compensation from the proposed settlement and you are not bound by the terms of the settlement.

If you did not register for the class action, you are not eligible to receive potential compensation unless the Court makes a further order. But because you are a group member, you are still bound by the settlement, meaning you will not be able to sue the defendants for the issues covered by the class action.

Maurice Blackburn cannot assist with requesting permission from the Court to allow you to be a registered group member now. If you would like, you can seek independent legal advice about this.

The Court previously made a ‘group costs order’, which means that unless the Court changes this, the plaintiff’s lawyers will receive 25% of the settlement sum to cover the legal costs they incurred and the risks they took in running the class action.

Group members are not, and will not be, liable for any legal costs out of their own pocket.

No. Maurice Blackburn is also running another car dealer add-on insurance class action regarding insurance products sold by Allianz. It is possible to be a group member in both, but they are separate class actions and you were required to register separately. 

You can read more about the Allianz class action here.

The Court made an order permitting people who mistakenly registered for the Allianz add-on insurance class action instead of the AAI & MTA class action to be considered registered group members in the AAI & MTA class action. Individuals were identified as having mistakenly registered for the Allianz class action if their registration details did not match Allianz’s records at the time but did match AAI’s records. You may have received a notice if this applies to you.

No. The Car Loan Flex Commission Class Actions relate to the loan term and interest rate you paid on your car loan, whereas the AAI & MTA class action relates to certain add-on insurance products sold to customers at the time they purchased their car. It is possible to be a group member in multiple proceedings or only one of them, but they are separate class actions and you were required to register separately.

You can read more about the Flex Commissions Class Actions here.

To update your contact details in relation to the AAI & MTA class action, please email your previous and current details to aai_addonclassaction@mauriceblackburn.com.au. Please make sure you include “Updated Contact Details” in the subject heading. 

Due to the volume of enquiries, we may not reply to your email individually. Once you have emailed us, you do not need to do anything else to update your details. 

Please read the FAQs above. If you still have questions, please carefully read the notice.

If your questions have still not been answered, you can call or email our team on:

• 1800 571 256
• aai_addonclassaction@mauriceblackburn.com.au

We are experiencing a very high volume of enquiries, and we may not be able to get back to you straight away.