Class action against Southern Response gains Aussie funder

By Jenny Ruth

May 6 (BusinessDesk) - About 3,000 Canterbury residents who believe they were short-changed in their insurance settlements with Southern Response now have the backing of an Australian litigation funder for their roughly $300 million claim.

Lawyer Grant Cameron says Claims Funding Australia, a subsidiary of law firm Maurice Blackburn, has agreed to fund a class action against Southern Response.

“We can now see this through to completion, no matter how long it might take,” Cameron says.

“The best class action minds in the Southern Hemisphere have looked closely at this matter and they’ve decided to support it,” he says.

“This means that all those Southern Response policyholders who settled before Oct. 1, 2014 can now seek proper redress if they now come forward. On the information to hand, it seems there may be about 3,000 policyholders and there could be about $300 million in issue.”

Cameron filed the class action in the Christchurch High Court last year and said then that claims could total $150 million.

Southern Response was created by the government after mutually-owned insurance company AMI failed in 2011 in the wake of the Canterbury earthquakes.

Maurice Blackburn’s website says it has won A$2.6 billion in settlements since 1998.

(BusinessDesk)

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