Shine Lawyers has filed a class action on behalf of members of the Rest Superannuation fund who may have had income protection insurance premiums wrongfully deducted from their superannuation accounts.
“This class action alleges that between December 2008 and June 2019, Rest Superannuation (Rest) signed up new members to income protection insurance by default, without the member actively choosing to sign up to the policy,” said Shine Lawyers’ Practice Leader, Hadi Boustani.
“We also claim that when members did not make any contribution to their Rest account for 13 continuous months or more, the default income protection insurance policy did not provide the member with any coverage and when members held multiple income protection insurance policies at the same time, the Rest income protection policy provided little to no coverage.”
“This was money down the drain for fund members who paid a premium for no benefit. As a result, we’re seeking compensation for insurance premiums which we allege were unfairly deducted, as well as investment returns and administration costs,”
“Up to 500,000 Rest members may be affected,” said Boustani.
Shine Lawyers client, Jarrod Lane, has registered for the class action to demand accountability from his super fund.
He was not earning an income for over 3 years between 2018-2021 and believes he was charged for income protection insurance that he could never claim on.
“I felt it was important to join this class action because what Rest has done is wrong and they should compensate those who were affected.”
The action is being funded by Woodsford, a leading global ESG, access to justice and litigation finance business.
Clare Owen, Director and Head of Origination, Woodsford Australia, commented: “Everyday Australians trust their superannuation funds to look after their hard-earned dollars which they have invested for their retirement. Having sufficient superannuation to fund retirement is so important. Woodsford is pleased to be supporting this action to assist those everyday Australians in recouping losses to their superannuation which has been unfairly eroded.”
To be a part of this class action, you must have:
- Been a Rest Super fund member for any time between 5 December 2008 and 30 June 2019; and
- By default, signed up to a Rest Superannuation account which included an income protection insurance policy; and
- Had income protection insurance premiums deducted from your Rest Super account; and
- Either:
- Made no contribution to your Rest Superannuation account for 13 continuous months or more but continued to receive deductions from your account to cover income protection insurance premiums to Rest during that period; and/or
- Paid for multiple default income protection policies alongside your Rest income protection insurance policy.
Anyone who meets the above criteria and was a Rest super fund member between 5 December 2008 and 30 June 2019 may be entitled to compensation.
To find out more, register here.
The class action was listed for a case management hearing on Friday 16 February, 2024 in the Federal Court. Justice Button made orders including for Rest to file its defence by the 28 March 2024.
