A multimillion-dollar claim has been launched by Kiwi customers against two big Australian banks.
The landmark case has been filed against ASB and ANZ late this afternoon, claiming the banks have failed to refund more than 150,000 customers interest and fees they were not entitled to charge.
Banking Class Action solicitor Scott Russell says the case is being brought under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act, alleging the banks breached their disclosure obligations.
He told 1News the case is about “accountability and fairness”.
“The laws require when the banks make a home loan or any consumer loan, they’ve got to disclose in a timely and accurate way - things like the interest rate, the times of payments, the amount of payments - and the banks simply didn’t do that.
“The banks have breached consumer protection laws, as a result the law is clear they owe a refund to their customers, so we’re asking banks to do the right thing.”
Lawyer Scott Russell claims the banks failed to refund more than 150,000 customers.
Some of the customers may have been paying interest and fees they were not liable for over periods as long as five years.
Aucklander Antony Simons says he signed up to the case despite it being “scary”, because he felt what the banks had allegedly done was “just wrong”.
“They destroyed my faith in who they were in a bank.. I don’t trust these organisations anymore,” he told 1News.
The case is being funded by Australia-based litigation funder CASL and New Zealand litigation funder LPF Group.
Customers may qualify to participate in the Banking Class Action if they had a home or personal loan with ANZ during the period May 30, 2015 - May 28, 2016 or ASB during the period June 6, 2015 – June 18, 2019.
Those who think they may be affected are being urged to sign up as plaintiffs, but Russell says he’ll be asking the court to apply the case to the entire customer base of 150,000 people.
In a statement, an ANZ spokesperson told 1News the litigation "relates to a historic loan calculator issue, although we have not yet seen a copy of the claim".
The spokesperson said the incident, which was identified by ANZ and reported to the Commerce Commission in 2017, saw "some customers underpaying their loans by an average of $2 a month for a short time".
"ANZ carried out its own remediation and then a second remediation following a Commerce Commission investigation and settlement. More than $35m has been paid to customers.
"ANZ considers we have fairly remediated our customers and the matter has already been subject to regulatory oversight and resolution. We will be defending the claim."
An ASB spokesperson told 1News they were "aware of an action filed at the Auckland High Court which appears to relate to a settlement agreed between ASB and the Commerce Commission in May this year".
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