you could be OWED A REFUND OF $100s or $1,000s for 'junk insurance' Premiums on your home loan
Joel Gibson, Consumer Expert
haD a home loan in the past decade?
If so, there’s a chance you were paying ‘Junk Insurance premiums’ as part of the package - and maybe even paying interest on those premiums!
About 1 in 4 Australians may have paid for so-called ‘add-on insurance’ on loans and credit cards but it’s become known as ‘Junk’ because many of us didn’t need it, or we couldn’t claim on it, or sometimes we didn’t even know we were paying for it..
It was also lousy value, returning just 31c in claims for every dollar that Aussies spent on premiums.
For home loan customers, the two main types of Junk Insurance were called “Consumer Credit Insurance’ and ‘Lender’s Mortgage Insurance’.
FACT: CCI on Mortgages is the 4th most common source of refunds that Remediator has been able to achieve for customers so far.
What can you do about it?
Thanks to the hard work of the financial watchdog ASIC and the 2018 Banking Royal Commission, this long-running rort is now out in the open.
Banks have already returned over $250 million in refunds for Junk Insurance to more than 580,000 Aussies. But with 5.6 million policies sold, this could be just the beginning.^
If you’ve been slugged for Junk Insurance, you could be entitled to a refund worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Get your FREE eligibility check here if you haven’t already done so.
Neil from Western Australia got a $3,667 refund!
"No hassles. It only took 2 weeks and I had the money in my account that Remediator had found I was wrongly charged on my mortgage. I tell everyone I can about Remediator!"
How do you know if you've paid for junk insurance on a home loan?
At Remediator, we’ve found that many of the claimants we help have been paying for Junk Insurances on their home loans without even realising.
If you were a victim of this dodgy practice, there might be some evidence in your old loan statements. Look for language such as “Consumer Credit Insurance”, “CCI” or “LMI”. In home loans, it was also sometimes re-badged as “Mortgage Protection Insurance”.
REAL WORLD EXAMPLE: Premiums charged on home loans with ZERO balances
An ASIC investigation discovered one lender was charging a minimum annual premium of $150 for Consumer Credit Insurance on home loans even when the home loan balance was zero. The policy remained open “in case consumers redrew on their home loan”. Customers of the lender got refunds and other forms of remediation.
The problem is: when it comes to Junk Insurance, lenders don’t always call a spade a spade. Over the years, they’ve given it all sorts of names and ‘brands’ to make it sound more attractive.
So if you want some help locating the evidence and getting your money back, you can call in the experts at Remediator.
What is consumer credit Insurance (also known as cci)?
Consumer credit insurance (CCI) sold with home loans provides cover if you are unable to meet their minimum monthly loan repayments due to unemployment, sickness or injury (under the terms of the policy) or to pay the outstanding loan balance upon death.
It’s optional and it was usually sold at the time the consumer applied for the loan - although that’s now illegal and there must be a 4-day wait before selling someone CCI.
Each policy has different features, limits and exclusions, and these determine the payout.
For example, if you lose your job involuntarily. Your CCI (if you’re even aware you have it) might cover the minimum monthly loan repayment up to a specified date or monetary limit.
But the financial watchdog and the 2018 Banking Royal Commission showed how little value CCI had delivered to customers, because it often wasn’t explained to them, or it wasn’t appropriate for them, or it was pushed on them by high pressure sales tactics.
How much did home loan borrowers get back in claims for every dollar they spent in premiums? This table shows how poor CCI was compared to other types of insurance:
Insurance Type
Consumer Credit Insurance (Home Loans)
Car Insurance
Home and Contents Insurance
How Much Back?
31c
89c
56c
(Source: ASIC)
It might also be unnecessary: for example, if you have life insurance or income protection insurance, you’re covered for sickness, injury and death.
Get your FREE eligibility check here if you haven’t already done so.
What is Lender's mortgage insurance (also known as lmi)?
If you have to borrow more than 80% of the value of a property, the lender will make you pay for Lender’s Mortgage Insurance (LMI).
This insurance policy protects the lender if you can’t pay off the loan. Unlike other insurances that charge monthly or annual premiums, you pay it as a once-off fee when you take out the loan.
But what if you then pay the mortgage off early? You should be entitled to a partial refund.
Or what if you paid a deposit of more than 20% and you were still charged LMI? You could also be eligible for a refund.
Remediator has achieved successful refunds for customers on LMI so let us know if you’ve paid for this type of insurance - or ask us to take a look for you.
Ever had a Home loan with any of these banks?
NAB, BoQ, CBA, Westpac and Bendigo were the worst lenders when it came to paying back cents in the dollar to customers for Consumer Credit Insurance on home loans. All four paid back less than 31c for every dollar they collected in premiums.
But all the big banks and a number of second-tier lenders were selling Junk Insurance until it was exposed as a waste of money for most people.
CBA was bringing in $150 million annually through CCI products alone before it stopped selling them , according to testimony at the Royal Commission.
Westpac, ANZ and CBA are all now facing class actions on behalf of customers who paid for CCI.
NAB settled a class action for $49.5 million in 2020.
ASIC’s big investigation into CCI covered the lenders below. So if you’ve had a home loan with any of these brands, you might be entitled to your money back for Junk Insurance.
WHICH HOME LOAN LENDERS PAID BACK THE LEAST ON C.C.I. FROM 2011-2018? (ASIC)
Lender
Suncorp
ANZ
Westpac
NAB
CBA
People's Choice
Bendigo
BOQ
CUA
Cents In The Dollar
32.67c
41.15c
28.89c
23.02c
28.08c
31.56c
30.60c
24.90c
31.43c
(Source: ASIC)
Get your FREE eligibility check here if you haven’t already done so.
^ General Insurance Code Governance Committee: Annual Reports 2014-2020