AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action

Class actions are an important mechanism within Australia’s legal system that allow large groups of people to come together to pursue a claim collectively.

Three criteria must be met for a class action to take place:

1. There must be seven or more people that have claims against the same defendant;

2. The claims must arise out of the same, similar, or related circumstances; and

3. The claims must relate to at least one common issue of law or fact.

Class actions in Australia work on an “opt-out model”. This means that anyone who fits within the definition of a “group member” is automatically part of the class action and will be bound by any court approved settlement of the proceeding or the judgment of the court, unless they opt out.

Due to the nature of class actions, the first stage of the proceeding can take anywhere between twelve months to three years or longer from the date of commencement to resolution and will depend on the particular case and the nature of the claim.

Unless a court approved settlement is reached, the first stage of the proceeding will only resolve the Applicants’ claims and the common issues in the proceeding. The group member claims will be resolved individually in the second stage of the proceeding.

The class action is brought by Nigel Stack, Melita Winterton, Janelle Lodge and David Brittain (the Applicants).

The Respondents are AMP Financial Planning Pty Limited (AMPFP), Charter Financial Planning Limited (Charter), Hillross Financial Services Limited (Hillross), AMP Limited and Resolution LifeAustralasia Limited (formerly AMP Life Limited (AMP Life)).

The class action relates to insurance and/or financial product advice provided by authorised representatives of AMPFP, Charter and Hillross (the AMP Licensees).

It is alleged that financial advisers appointed as authorised representatives of AMPFP, Charter and Hillross (who may have operated under other business names) failed to give priority to their clients’ interests or to act in their clients’ best interests. This is because the:

• authorised representatives were allegedly incentivised through commissions and other benefits to recommend AMP Life Products and other insurance or financial products (Commissioned Products) to their clients.

• authorised representatives allegedly breached their obligations to their clients by receiving commissions for recommending Commissioned Products to their clients.

• authorised representatives allegedly failed to inform their clients that they could obtain substantially equivalent or better insurance policies (Death, Total and Permanent Disablement, Income Protection (or Temporary Salary Continuance), Business Overheads) from alternative insurers for lower premiums, resulting in their clients paying higher insurance premiums.

• the AMP Licensees failed to implement systems and processes to ensure the authorised representatives complied with their duties to their clients.

• authorised representatives charged OSFs for services which were not provided to some clients.

This class action seeks compensation for the:

• commissions paid on Commissioned Products;

• excess premiums paid by some group members on AMP Life Products; and/or

• OSFs charged to some group members for services not provided,

during the period of 23 July 2014 to 15 February 2021, as a result of the financial advice given to group members by authorised representatives, and the conduct of the Respondents.

The class action relates to the AMP Life Products listed below which provided cover for one or more of the following:

• Death;

• Total & Permanent Disablement (TPD);

• Trauma;

• Loss of income (or Temporary Salary Continuance (TSC));

• Business Overheads.

The AMP Life Products are Flexible Lifetime – Protection, Flexible Lifetime – Super, Flexible Super – Flexible Protection and Flexible Super – Super Protection.

The class action relates to any financial or insurance products (including AMP Life Products) recommended by an authorised representative of AMP Financial Planning Pty Limited (AMPFP), Charter Financial Planning Limited (Charter), Hillross Financial Services Limited (Hillross) and subsequently acquired by a group member, pursuant to which commissions were payable.

The AMP Life Products are Flexible Lifetime – Protection, Flexible Lifetime – Super, Flexible Super – Flexible Protection and Flexible Super – Super Protection.

Examples of other insurance and financial products include, but are not limited to, PortfolioCare Pension Service, PortfolioCare Investment Service, Whole of Life Plan, Endowment Personal Super Plan, AMP Children's Endowment Insurance, AMP Elevate Income Insurance Plan, and AMP MyNorth Super.

You will be a group member if:

1. you received personal advice from a financial adviser that was an authorised representative of AMP Financial Planning Pty Limited (AMPFP), Charter Financial Planning Limited (Charter) or Hillross Financial Services Limited (Hillross); and

2. pursuant to that personal advice, you (by yourself or through your superannuation fund as a member) acquired, renewed and/or continued to hold a Commissioned Product; and

3. you held a Commissioned Product in respect of which commissions were paid during the period 23 July 2014 to 15 February 2021.

You might have been unaware that commissions were paid.

The authorised representatives may have operated under different business names to AMPFP, Charter and Hillross. There was a range of financial advice businesses that were part of the Respondents’ network.

Commissioned Products include AMP Life Products and other insurance and financial products, such as PortfolioCare Pension Service, PortfolioCare Investment Service, Whole of Life Plan, Endowment Personal Super Plan, AMP Children's Endowment Insurance, AMP Elevate Income Insurance Plan, and AMP MyNorth Super.

The AMP Life Products are Flexible Lifetime – Protection, Flexible Lifetime – Super, Flexible Super – Flexible Protection and Flexible Super – Super Protection, and they provided cover for one or more of the following: Death, Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD), Trauma, Loss of Income (or Temporary Salary Continuance (TSC)), Business Overheads.

To satisfy the first limb of the group member definition:

• you must have received ‘personal advice’ from an authorised representative of AMP Financial Planning Pty Limited (AMPFP) or Charter Financial Planning Limited (Charter) or Hillross Financial Services Limited (Hillross);

AND

• that ‘personal advice’ must have been in relation to a Commissioned Product.

The authorised representatives may have operated under different business names to AMPFP, Charter and Hillross. There was a range of financial advice businesses that were part of the Respondents’ network.

Commissioned Products include AMP Life Products and other insurance and financial products, such as PortfolioCare Pension Service, PortfolioCare Investment Service, Whole of Life Plan, Endowment Personal Super Plan, AMP Children's Endowment Insurance, AMP Elevate Income Insurance Plan, and AMP MyNorth Super.

The AMP Life Products are Flexible Lifetime – Protection, Flexible Lifetime – Super, Flexible Super – Flexible Protection, and Flexible Super – Super Protection, and they provided cover for one or more of the following: Death, Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD), Trauma, Loss of Income (or Temporary Salary Continuance (TSC)), Business Overheads.

‘Personal advice’ means a recommendation or a statement of opinion or a report (of a recommendation or statement of opinion):

that is given to you, or is directed to you;

• from an authorised representative of AMPFP; Charter or Hillross;

• in circumstances where the provider of the advice has considered your objectives and/or your financial situation and/or your needs, or a reasonable person might expect the provider to have considered one or more of those matters; and

• that is intended to influence (or could reasonably be regarded as intended to influence) you in making a decision about an AMP Life Product or other insurance or financial product, for example:

  • whether to take out a new AMP Life Product or other insurance or financial product (either within or outside of your superannuation fund); or

  • whether to retain or renew an existing AMP Life Product or other insurance or financial product, either on the same or different terms, and for the same or a different amount; or

  • as part of a review of your insurances or finances.

These examples are illustrative only and are not intended to cover the field as regards the type or scope of advice that you may have received.

The ‘personal advice’ may have been provided to you verbally (e.g. during a conference held in-person or using an online platform such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or during a telephone call) or in writing (e.g. in an email or a written Statement of Advice or report).

If you believe you consulted your financial adviser about your AMP Life Product, or other insurance or financial product, during the period 23 July 2014 to 15 February 2021, you are likely to have received advice, and we encourage you to register for the class action.

You do not have to pay any money out of pocket to participate in this class action and no money will be taken from your superannuation account.

The costs of running the AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action are being funded by Woodford (a litigation funder) and the lawyers (Piper Alderman and Shine Lawyers). This includes the Applicants’ legal fees and third-party costs.

Each of the Applicants has signed litigation funding agreements with Woodsford (Funding Agreements).

There are no up-front out of pocket costs for you. The legal fees and costs to run the class action will only be deducted from the gross proceeds of the judgment or settlement in the event of a successful outcome. Any amount deducted for legal costs and disbursements is subject to Court approval.

The gross proceeds are the total amount received (including any settlement sum or compensation, costs and damages awarded by the Court and interest), paid or credited to, in favour of, for the benefit of, or to the order of the Applicants or group members, by the Respondents or any third party which relates to the subject matter of the class action.

Yes, your contact details will remain confidential, and your consent will be sought before any of your personal information is disclosed.

Shine Lawyers, Piper Alderman and EnterClaim will only use your personal information strictly for the purpose of the AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action and in accordance with Shine Lawyers’ and Piper Alderman’s privacy policies.

A copy of Shine’s Privacy Policy can be accessed at shine.com.au/privacy-policy.

A copy of Piper Alderman’s Privacy Policy can be accessed at piperalderman.com.au/privacy-policy.

Information you provide will be held by KordaMentha in accordance with KordaMentha’s privacy policy, which can be accessed at: kordamentha.com/privacy-policy. The policy is also available at KordaMentha’s offices.

The Court has set a class deadline of 4pm AEST on 4 July 2025 for group members to register to participate in this proceeding.

If you have received an Opt Out Notice, you have been deemed by the Court to be registered to participate in the class action and you do not need to do anything further. It would be prudent, however, for you to contact the AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action Member Assistance Team to ensure that your contact details are up to date to ensure that you receive group member updates from Shine Lawyers and Piper Alderman.

If you have received an Opt Out Notice and Registration Notice and you wish to participate in the AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action, you must register by 4pm AEST on 4 July 2025.

If you have not received either of these notices, then whether you can register to participate in the AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action will depend on whether you fall within the ‘group member’ definition. A person will likely be a group member if:

• they received personal advice from an authorised representative of AMP Financial Planning Pty Limited (AMPFP) or Charter Financial Planning Limited (Charter) or Hillross Financial Services Limited (Hillross);

AND

• pursuant to that personal advice, they acquired, renewed and/or continued to hold (either by themselves or through their superannuation funds as members) a Commissioned Product;

AND

• they held a Commissioned Product (including AMP Life Products) in respect of which commissions were paid during the period 23 July 2014 to 15 February 2021.

The person might have been unaware that commissions were paid.

Commissioned Products include AMP Life Products and other insurance and financial products, such as PortfolioCare Pension Service, PortfolioCare Investment Service, Whole of Life Plan, Endowment Personal Super Plan, AMP Children's Endowment Insurance, AMP Elevate Income Insurance Plan, and AMP MyNorth Super.

The AMP Life Products are Flexible Lifetime – Protection, Flexible Lifetime – Super, Flexible Super – Flexible Protection, and Flexible Super – Super Protection, and they provided cover for one or more of the following: Death, Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD), Trauma, Loss of Income (or Temporary Salary Continuance (TSC)), Business Overheads.

In respect of the excess premiums sub-group members, if you cannot recall whether you received financial advice in relation to your AMP Life Product during the period 23 July 2014 to 15 February 2021, but you held a policy before 23 July 2014 and continued to hold it after this date, then you may be eligible to participate in the class action and we encourage you to register.

If you’re unsure if your financial adviser was an authorised representative of AMPFP, Charter or Hillross, we encourage you to register for the class action so that your eligibility can be assessed at the appropriate time. It may be that your financial adviser operated under a different name to, but was still an authorised representative of, AMPFP, Charter or Hillross.

At this stage of the class action, it is not possible to estimate a specific figure that each person can expect to receive.

The amount of compensation will vary between group members, depending on their individual circumstances and the losses they have suffered.

Any class action settlement must be approved by the Federal Court.

As part of the settlement approval, the Federal Court approves a document called a Settlement Distribution Scheme which details how any compensation is to be divided among group members.

An administrator of the Settlement Distribution Scheme is then appointed by the Federal Court to distribute the compensation in accordance with the scheme and organise payment to the group members as efficiently as possible.

The Applicants have each entered into litigation funding agreements with Woodsford (Funding Agreements). Under the Funding Agreements, the Applicants agreed that if the class action is successful (either through a judgment or settlement), they will apply for a Court order to:

• repay, from the gross proceeds of the judgment or settlement:

  • reasonable costs advanced by Woodsford in relation to the class action (including any fees, interim adverse costs, security for costs, or upfront insurance premiums relating to “after-the-event” insurance or adverse costs insurance); and

  • Woodsford’s funding commission or “Success Fee”, fees deferred by Shine Lawyers and Piper Alderman and a 25% uplift on those deferred fees, and any unpaid (including deferred and contingent) insurance premiums due under any after-the-event insurance policy.

• apply for an order that will fairly distribute the Applicants’ costs among all group members who have benefited from the action. This may be by way of what is known as a Common Fund Order, or it may be by another order of the Court.

The gross proceeds are the total amount received (including any settlement sum, or compensation, costs and damages award by the Court and interest) paid or credited to, in favour of, for the benefit of, or to the order of, the Applicants or group members, by the Respondents or any third party which relates to the subject matter of the class action.

Woodsford’s funding commission or “Success Fee” means the amount equal to 27.5% of the gross proceeds or 3.5 times the Cash Outlay.

The Cash Outlay is the total amount of legal and other fees and costs (including GST) advanced by Woodsford plus all other fees and costs relating to the class action reasonably incurred by Woodsford. Those costs include:

• Shine Lawyers’ and Piper Alderman’s fees;

• third party costs (including barristers’ fees); and

• upfront (but not deferred and contingent) premiums for after-the-event (ATE) insurance and the costs of any deeds of indemnity purchased from the ATE insurers to satisfy the Respondents’ requests and/or applications for security for costs.

If successful, then pursuant to the litigation Funding Agreements the Applicants signed with Woodsford, the Applicants will:

1. apply for a Common Fund Order in an amount consistent with Woodsford’s Success Fee. This is the greater of 27.5% of the gross proceeds or 3.5 times the Cash Outlay.

2. apply for a payment to compensate them for their own time involvement and expenses incurred in acting as the Applicants in the class action, to be paid from the gross proceeds obtained from a settlement or judgment.

Any final Common Fund Order may apply differently to different classes of group members depending on the types of products held and the nature of their claims.

The Common Fund Order and the amounts proposed to be deducted from the gross proceeds is strictly subject to the Court’s approval.

The Applicants will apply for the gross proceeds to be distributed as follows:

1. First, repayment of Woodsford’s Cash Outlay;

2. Second, payment of Woodsford’s Success Fee plus Shine Lawyers’ and Piper Alderman’s deferred fees and a 25% uplift on those deferred fees, plus any unpaid insurance premiums relating to after-the-event insurance or adverse costs insurance due, including any deferred and contingent premiums; and

3. Third, payment of the balance to all group members (including the Applicants) in accordance with a distribution scheme approved by the Court.

Please note that the Common Fund Order and the amounts proposed to be deducted from the gross proceeds is strictly subject to the Court’s approval.

If a group member’s insurance policy was owned by their superannuation fund, and premiums for that policy were paid out of the superannuation fund, some or all of the money they receive from the settlement, or a favourable judgment of the Court, may be required to be paid into their superannuation fund.

If the class action is unsuccessful:

• you will not have to pay anything; and

• the Court may order the Applicants (and/or other third parties such as Woodsford) to pay part of one or more of the Respondents’ costs (known as adverse costs).

To protect against the risk of an adverse costs order, Woodsford has:

• indemnified the Applicants (and group members who participate in the class action) against liability for any adverse costs order made against the Applicants; and

• obtained “after-the-event” (ATE) insurance to:

  • provide the Applicants and group members with additional protection against the risk of an adverse costs order (the ATE insurance policy, provided by an A-rated ATE insurer, expressly covers adverse costs payable by the Applicants); and

  • enable the Applicants to provide security for the Respondents’ costs (for example by purchasing deeds of indemnity from the ATE insurer).

In return for this protection against the risk of having to pay adverse costs, the Applicants have agreed to apply for a Court order that the cost of any such ATE insurance, including any deferred and contingent insurance premiums, be payable from the gross proceeds (in addition to other costs, including Woodsford’s Success Fee).

Yes. This class action seeks compensation for excess premiums charged to customers and commissions paid on Commissioned Products during the period 23 July 2014 to 15 February 2021. It does not make any allegations in respect of group members’ eligibility to receive cover under their AMP Life Products or other AMP insurance policies.

A person will likely be a group member if:

• they received personal advice from an authorised representative of AMP Financial Planning Pty Limited (AMPFP) or Charter Financial Planning Limited (Charter) or Hillross Financial Services Limited (Hillross);

AND

• pursuant to that personal advice, they acquired, renewed and/or continued to hold (by themselves or through their superannuation fund as a member) an AMP Life Product or other insurance or financial products;

AND

• they held an insurance or financial product in respect of which commissions were paid (a Commissioned Product) during the period 23 July 2014 to 15 February 2021.

They might have been unaware that commissions were paid.

The AMP Life Products are Flexible Lifetime – Protection, Flexible Lifetime – Super, Flexible Super – Flexible Protection and Flexible Super – Super Protection and they provided cover for one or more of the following: Death, Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD), Trauma, Loss of Income (or Temporary Salary Continuance (TSC)), Business Overheads.

Commissioned Products are platforms, insurance products and other financial products in respect of which commissions were payable to the financial product issuer. They include:

• the AMP Life Products.

• other insurance or financial products, including, but not limited to, PortfolioCare Pension Service, PortfolioCare Investment Service, Whole of Life Plan, Endowment Personal Super Plan, AMP Children's Endowment Insurance, AMP Elevate Income Insurance Plan, and AMP MyNorth Super.

If you cannot recall whether you received financial advice in relation to your AMP Life Product, or other insurance or financial product during the period 23 July 2014 to 15 February 2021, but you held a policy before 23 July 2014 and continued to hold it after this date then you may be eligible to participate in the class action and we encourage you to register.

If you’re unsure if your adviser was an authorised representative of AMPFP, Charter or Hillross, we encourage you to register for the class action so that your eligibility can be assessed at the appropriate time. It may be that your financial adviser operated under a different business name to, but was still an authorised representative of, AMPFP, Charter or Hillross. There was a range of financial advice businesses that were part of the Respondents’ network.

You do not need to provide any documents at this stage, but you may be asked to provide additional information and documents at a later stage. The types of documents that would assist Shine Lawyers and Piper Alderman include:

• Policy schedules;

• Renewal summaries;

• Statements of Advice and other letters and emails from your financial adviser, and any notes you made during meetings or telephone calls with your financial adviser;

• Application forms;

• Cancellation letters (if applicable); and

• Certificates of currency (if applicable).

We encourage you to keep documents of these types safe and secure in one location so that they are easy to retrieve should you be asked for them.

Please do not send these documents to Shine Lawyers or Piper Alderman or the AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action Member Assistance Team at this time.

A member of the AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action Member Assistance Team can check whether you have already registered with Shine Lawyers or Piper Alderman to participate in the class action.

Alternatively, if you attempt to register to participate in the class action through the Registration Portal and you are prompted to either confirm or update pre-populated information relating to your claim, it will mean that you have already registered with Shine Lawyers or Piper Alderman. If you receive such a prompt, we encourage you to carefully check and update (as appropriate) the pre-populated information to ensure you will receive updates on the proceeding from Shine Lawyers and Piper Alderman.

Because this class action seeks compensation for excess premiums charged to individual policy holders and the commissions paid on Commissioned Products, each policyholder should register separately.

Commissioned Products are platforms, insurance products and other financial products in respect of which commissions were payable to the financial product issuer. They include:

• the AMP Life Products: Flexible Lifetime – Protection, Flexible Lifetime – Super, AMP Flexible Super – Flexible Protection, and AMP Flexible Super – Super Protection.

• other insurance or financial products, such as PortfolioCare Pension Service, PortfolioCare Investment Service, Whole of Life Plan, Endowment Personal Super Plan, AMP Children's Endowment Insurance, AMP Elevate Income Insurance Plan, and AMP MyNorth Super.

If a policyholder (or joint policyholder) is deceased, the executor or administrator of the policyholder’s estate may register the claim on behalf of the estate.

You have received a notice because:

• you have already registered for the class action with Shine Lawyers or Piper Alderman; and/or

• the Respondents’ records indicate that you or your superannuation fund held an AMP Life Product or other relevant insurance or financial product in respect of which commissions were likely paid to AMP Financial Planning Pty Limited or Charter Financial Planning Limited or Hillross Financial Services Limited (together, the AMP Licensees) in the period from 23 July 2014 to 15 February 2021.

The Respondents to this class action are the AMP Licensees, AMP Limited and Resolution Life Australasia Limited (formerly AMP Life Limited (AMP Life)).

The Respondents were ordered by the Court to provide your contact details so that the Court approved opt out notice setting out your right to opt out of the class action could be sent to you.

To ensure you keep up to date with developments in the class action, you should register for the class action. If you are unsure whether you have registered for the class action with Shine Lawyers or Piper Alderman, the AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action Member Assistance Team can check this for you.

To opt out of the proceeding, you must complete and sign the Opt out notice (Form 21) and return it to the Victoria District Registry of the Federal Court of Australia by 4pm AEST on 4 July 2025.

The Opt out notice (Form 21) should be posted to the following address:

The Registrar Federal Court of Australia Victoria District Registry Owen Dixon Commonwealth Law Courts Building Level 7, 305 William Street Melbourne VIC 3000

Do not return the Opt out notice (Form 21) to Shine Lawyers or Piper Alderman or the AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action Member Assistance Team.

If you are late in submitting your Opt Out form, there is a risk it will not be accepted by the Court, and you will remain a group member.

If you opt out of the class action, you will not be bound by the outcome of the class action and will lose the opportunity to receive any compensation available in this action (either from a settlement or favourable judgment). However, you will retain your right to commence separate proceedings against the Respondents on your own behalf if you wish (subject to any applicable time limits).

You are encouraged you to seek independent legal advice before opting out of the AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action.

EnterClaim is a secure digital class action administration platform developed by KordaMentha to streamline the collection, validation, and processing of claims.

Further information on EnterClaim can be found at https://enterclaim.com.

If you are a group member, the best way to keep updated on developments in the AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action is to register to participate in the class action.

If you were sent an Opt Out Notice (not an Opt Out and Registration Notice), then there is nothing else that you need to do.

If you believe you are a group member and you either:

1. received an Opt Out Notice and Registration Notice by email or post; or

2. did not receive a notice but read about the AMP Commissions & Insurance Class Action in a newspaper or on the Shine Lawyers or Piper Alderman websites or their social media,

and would like to participate in the class action, we encourage you to register:

• online via the Registration Portal – ampcommissionsclassaction.enterclaim.com; or

• by completing and returning a hardcopy of the registration form to the Applicants’ solicitors at the address below:

Piper Alderman Level 23 Governor Macquarie Tower 1 Farrer Place Sydney NSW 2000