Class action taken against ANZ, ASB

• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Publication title: Otago Daily Times (New Zealand)

It is being taken by former Commerce Commission lawyer Scott Russell and barristers Davey Salmon QC and Ali van Ammers, and is being jointly funded by Australian litigation funder CASL and New Zealand litigation funder LPF Group.

The claim concerns two Commerce Commission settlements with the banks in which both acknowledged a failure to provide accurate information to personal and home loan customers who varied the terms of their loans in a particular period.

In May this year, ASB agreed to pay a settlement of $8.1million to 73,000 customers after it was unable to confirm it had sent written disclosure information to those who made loan variations between June 6, 2015 and June 18, 2019.

In March last year, ANZ agreed to pay $29.4million to about 100,000 customers after it confirmed it had misstated the amount of interest on loans from May 30, 2015 until May 29, 2016, as a result of a coding error in a loan calculator used by its frontline bank staff.

The lawyers allege that while the banks have made certain remediation payments to affected customers, that remediation is only a fraction of what customers are entitled to under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003.

Mr Russell said the law was very clear.

‘‘If a bank fails to comply with its disclosure obligations, it is not legally entitled to charge interest or fees on the affected loan until the failure is remedied.

‘‘To the extent a bank receives interest or fees it is not entitled to, it must refund or credit those amounts to the customer as soon as practicable.’’

In this case, the banks had continued to charge interest and fees...