CLASS ACTIONS WORST CASE SENERIOS PRIMER, page-97

WBC/AMPCLASS ACTION COMPARISON

AMP

AMP Financial Planning through its authorised representative and subsidiaries breached its fiduciary and statutory duties to an estimated100,000 clients by failing to provide objective financial advice, therefore failing to act in their clients’ best interests. Shine Lawyers will further allege that AMP Life Limited was in knowing receipt of gains made by the sale of inflated insurance by the AMP financial advice licensees and their authorised representatives.

WBC

The class action accused the respondents of committing a range of wrongdoings:

• Engaging in deceptive or misleading conduct (e.g., neglecting to inform clients about the optional or non-compulsory nature of the insurance products sold)
• Engaging in deceptive or misleading conduct (e.g., neglecting to inform clients about the optional or non-compulsory nature of the insurance products sold)
• Securing sales by leading clients to believe their policies were compulsory or valuable when they were not
• Engaging in unconscionable conduct, such as the unfair tactic of not providing clients with adequate opportunity to consider the viability of the policies purchased
• Unlawful provision of advice over the phone or at a branch

The Westpac class action was filed after the establishment of the Banking Royal Commission in 2017, which found that some financial institutions were employing unfair strategies to sell unnecessary CCI (Consumer Credit Insurance) products to clients unable or unlikely to make claims.