Junk Insurance Refunds: Claimo customer claimed a $24,000 refund.
Sydney woman Patricia received a $24,000 cash payout through a Claimo junk insurance refund she had no idea she was eligible for.
She is just one of millions of Australians eligible for cash payout from junk insurance.
After a banking royal commission finding in 2019, financial institutions were ordered to set aside $10 billion to refund people who had purchased junk insurance.
Junk insurance refers to coverage that is either unnecessary or worthless.
Patricia did not realise she had been paying for insurance she didn’t need until she was alerted through a news story.
“I saw on the news a few months back that people were eligible for these refunds,” she told 7NEWS.com.au.
“So, I made an inquiry through Claimo, and I found out I had been paying insurance that I shouldn’t have been paying.”
Five weeks later, Patricia received a $24,000 refund.
“I didn’t even realise I was eligible, and it’s quite a bit of money I got back so it’s very exciting” she said.
Patricia is saving the refund towards a deposit for a home loan.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission says remediation is still available for millions of Australians for “fees for no service misconduct or non-compliant advice” as well as ” junk insurance” cashback payments.
A 2019 report from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry revealed millions of people had been duped into buying junk insurance.
New ASIC data released in September 2022 estimates a further $1.6 billion is yet to be paid to an estimated 2.7 million consumers for remediation for both junk insurance and non-compliant advice.
“Our guidance puts the onus on industry to get on with fair and timely remediations – returning the money they owe to wronged consumers,” ASIC deputy chair Karen Chester said.
“To date, ASIC has needed to oversee large-scale remediations, to ensure affected consumers were treated fairly and received the compensation they were entitled to.”
Claimo CEO Nathan Mortlock said the most common reason people bought junk insurance was because they were told it was necessary.
“A lot of the time they were told they had to have that insurance to get that home loan back in the ‘90s and also the ‘00s, and we know that’s actually not the case,” he said.
How to Start your Claim
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.
