CommInsure 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 claim 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 Edward Thomas and others (the Applicants). The Respondents are Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited (CFP), Financial Wisdom Limited (FWL), The Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society Pty Limited (CommInsure or CMLA) and AIA Australia Limited (AIAA). The claim relates to insurance advice provided by employees or authorised representatives of CFP and FWL between 21 August 2014 and 21 August 2020. 

The class action alleges that the Respondents failed to act in their clients' best interests. This is because the Respondents allegedly:   

• failed to inform their clients that they could obtain substantially similar or better insurance policies from alternative insurers for lower premiums; and  

• were incentivised through commissions and other financial and non-financial benefits to recommend insurance through CommInsure, being a related party to CFP and FWL. 

It is also alleged that the Respondents’ conduct is likely to have resulted in their clients paying higher insurance premiums.  

The class action seeks compensation for the excess premiums these clients paid as a result of the financial advice they were given by, and the conduct of, the Respondents. 

The class action only relates to life insurance policies issued by CommInsure that provided cover for one or more of the following: 

• Life; 

• Terminal Illness; 

• Total & Permanent Disability (TPD); 

• Trauma; 

• Income Protection; 

• Business Overhead. 

The CommInsure insurance policies that provided such cover included the Total Care Plan, Income Care, Income Care Plus and Income Care Platinum Essential policies. 

You will be a group member if between 21 August 2014 and 21 August 2020: 

• you received advice in relation to a CommInsure insurance policy from a financial adviser or an authorised representative of: 

  • Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited (CFP); or 

  • Financial Wisdom Limited (FWL), 

AND 

• you (or through your superannuation fund as a member) obtained, renewed or retained a CommInsure insurance policy which provided cover for one or more of the following: 

  • Life; 

  • Terminal Illness; 

  • Total and Permanent Disability (TPD); 

  • Trauma; 

  • Income Protection; 

  • Business Overhead. 

The CommInsure insurance policies that provided such cover included the Total Care Plan, Income Care, Income Care Plus and Income Care Platinum Essential policies.

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 Applicants each entered into a litigation funding agreement (Funding Agreement) with Woodsford, a litigation funder. This means that Woodsford has agreed to pay the Applicants' costs of the CommInsure Class Action, which includes legal fees and third-party costs. 

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 approval by the Federal Court.  

The gross proceeds are the total amount received (including any settlement sum or compensation, costs and damages awarded by the Federal 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 and Enterclaim will only use your personal information strictly for the purpose of the CommInsure Class Action and in accordance with Shine Lawyers’ Privacy Policy. A copy of that Privacy Policy can be accessed at the following web page: Privacy Policy | Shine Lawyers. 

The Federal Court has set a class deadline of 4pm AEST on 5 May 2025 for group members to register to participate in this proceeding. 

If you have received a document entitled ‘Opt Out Notice’, you have been deemed by the Federal Court to be registered to participate in the CommInsure Class Action and you do not need to do anything further.  It would be prudent, however, for you to contact the CommInsure 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. 

If you have received a document entitled ‘Opt Out and Registration Notice’ and you wish to participate in the CommInsure Class Action, you must register by 4pm AEST on 5 May 2025. 

If you have not received either of these notices, then whether you can register to participate in the CommInsure Class Action will depend on whether you fall within the ‘group member’ definition. A person will likely be a group member if between 21 August 2014 and 21 August 2020:

• they received advice in relation to a CommInsure insurance policy from a financial adviser or an authorised representative of Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited (CFP) or Financial Wisdom Limited (FWL); 

AND 

• they themselves or through their superannuation fund as members obtained, renewed or retained a CommInsure insurance policy which provided cover for one or more of the following: 

  • Life; 

  • Terminal Illness; 

  • Total and Permanent Disability (TPD); 

  • Trauma; 

  • Income Protection; 

  • Business Overhead. 

The CommInsure insurance policies that provided such cover included the Total Care Plan, Income Care, Income Care Plus and Income Care Platinum Essential policies. 

If you cannot recall whether you received financial advice in relation to a CommInsure life insurance product during this period, but you held a policy before 21 August 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 employed by, or was an authorised representative of CFP or FWL, 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 but was still a representative of CFP or FWL.

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. 

In return for funding the CommInsure Class Action, the Applicants agreed that if the class action is successful (either through a judgment or settlement), they will: 

• repay, from the Gross Proceeds of the judgment or settlement: 

  • any costs incurred 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); 

  • Woodsford’s funding commission or “Success Fee”;  

  • unpaid (including deferred and contingent) insurance premiums due under any after the event insurance policy; and 

  • fees deferred by Shine Lawyers for recovery from any settlement or judgment, together with an uplift of 25% on those deferred fees. 

• 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 Federal Court. 

The Gross Proceeds are the total amount received (including any settlement sum, or compensation, costs and damages award by the Federal 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’ fees;  

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

• upfront (but not deferred and contingent) premiums for after the event insurance and other costs relating to that insurance.

If successful, then pursuant to a Funding Agreement signed by the Applicants and 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 to have any fees they incurred for their own time involvement in the class action paid from the proceeds obtained from a settlement or judgment. 

The Applicants will apply for the Gross Proceeds to be distributed as follows: 

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

2. Secondly, payment of Woodsford’s Success Fee plus Shine Lawyers’ deferred fees and an uplift on those deferred fees, plus any unpaid insurance premiums relating to ATE insurance or Adverse Costs insurance due, including any deferred and contingent premiums; and 

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

Please note that the Common Fund Order and the amounts proposed to be deducted from the Gross Proceeds is strictly subject to the Federal 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 Federal 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 Federal 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 against liability for any adverse costs order made against them; and  

• obtained “after the event” insurance to: 

  • provide the Applicants and group members with additional protection against the risk of an adverse costs order (the after the event insurance policy expressly covers adverse costs payable by the Applicants); and  

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

In return for this protection against the risk of having to pay adverse costs, the Applicants have agreed to apply for the cost of any such after the event insurance, including any deferred and contingent insurance premiums, to be payable from the gross proceeds.

Yes. This class action seeks compensation for excess premiums charged by CommInsure to its customers during the period 21 August 2014 to 21 August 2020. It does not make any allegations in respect of group members’ eligibility to receive cover under their CommInsure life insurance policies. 

You will likely be a group member and can register to participate in the class action if, during the period 21 August 2014 to 21 August 2020: 

• you received advice in relation to a CommInsure insurance policy from a financial adviser or an authorised representative of Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited (CFP) or Financial Wisdom Limited (FWL); 

AND

• you yourself or through your superannuation fund as a member obtained, renewed or retained a CommInsure insurance policy which provided cover for one or more of the following: 

  • Life; 

  • Terminal Illness; 

  • Total and Permanent Disability (TPD); 

  • Trauma;  

  • Income Protection; 

  • Business Overhead. 

The CommInsure insurance policies that provided such cover included the Total Care Plan, Income Care, Income Care Plus and Income Care Platinum Essential policies. 

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 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.

A member of the CommInsure Class Action Member Support Team can check whether you have already registered 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. If you receive such a prompt, we encourage you to carefully check and update (as appropriate) the pre-populated information. 

You have received a notice because: 

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

• the Respondents’ records indicate that you or your superannuation fund held a relevant insurance product issued by CommInsure. The Respondents to this class action are Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited (ACN 003 900 169), Financial Wisdom Limited (ACN 006 646 108), The Colonial Mutual Life Assurance Society Pty Limited (ACN 004 021 809), CommInsure (ACN 002 348 352), and AIA Australia Limited (ACN 004 837 861). 

The Respondents were ordered by the Federal 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, the CommInsure 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 5 May 2025. Do not send the form to Shine Lawyers.  

If you are late in submitting your Opt Out form, there is a risk it will not be accepted by the Federal 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 CommInsure 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 CommInsure 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 and Registration Notice by email or post; or 

2. did not receive a notice but read about the CommInsure Class action in a newspaper or on the Shine Lawyers website; 

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

• online via the Registration Portal - comminsureclassaction.enterclaim.com; or 

• by completing and returning a hardcopy of the registration form to: Shine Lawyers, Level 13, 160 Ann Street Brisbane QLD 4000.