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Aussies getting thousands back from ‘junk insurance’ claims

ByElodie Vela
Some Australians are getting back as much as $90,000 after forking out for unnecessary so-called “junk insurance”.
The expensive policies were either sold as vital to get a credit card, car or home loan and sometimes sneakily added on, leaving consumers out of pocket.
When Tony Herrmann took out a car loan he didn’t realise he was financially being taken for a ride.
 
“I was paying two insurances for the one item,” he said.
Then Hermann found out unnecessary insurance had also been added to credit cards and personal loans over several years.
He’d been ripped off at least $8500. “It’s disgusting people are putting those insurances on,” he said.
Dave Collier discovered he was owed more than $17,000 from his home loan.
“I thought ‘if I get $1000 back this is a bonus’, having no idea what I had paid out over the years,” he said.
It was for consumer credit insurance which protects lenders if loan repayments can’t be met due to unemployment, sickness or injury.
It was something Dave was sold each time he refinanced his house, but the retired police officer says he didn’t need it because he already had income protection insurance through work.
“Effectively you’re painted into a corner of having to take the insurance out otherwise the loan wouldn’t be approved,” he said.
Both men got their cash back through Claimo, which has a no win, no fee rule and instead takes 30 per cent of any refund.
It’s just one claims management company that will investigate potential windfalls for consumers, looking at everything from mortgage protection insurance to salary sacrifice and car leases.
Nathan Mortlock from Claimo said they’re getting some Australians up to $90,000 in refunds.
“The bank’s not going to call you to say they owe you some money, you have to do something about it,” he said.
Consumer experts say you can check if you’re eligible for a refund yourself by going through your loan contract or statements and searching for words such as “credit card insurance” or “loan protection”.
 
 
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How to check if you’re owed money?

The first stage of the process would be to check your loan or credit card documentation. Don’t worry if you no longer have your documents, Claimo will request these for you.

We will send an information request to your banks and financial institutions to see if you have been charged for add-on or junk insurance.

If you have been charged for junk insurance, one of Claimo’s claims specialists will give you a call to discuss your eligibility. When financial firms confirm that you have not been charged for the insurance, we will close that part of your enquiry. We don’t charge if you do not have insurance. 

Claimo will then submit a claim on your behalf and manage the process for you from start to finish. On average, the claims process can take around 12 weeks once your claim has been submitted. 

Our junk insurance claims managers will give you regular updates as they come. For more information about junk insurance, please read our full junk insurance guide here. 


Dave Collier discovered he was owed more than $17,000 from his home loan.
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