Last Friday the ABC reported that the NRMA had decided to stop its class action seeking compensation from the ACT and NSW Governments for the Governments’ allegedly negligent bushfire management.
Insurance claims filed after the bushfires for property losses and other damage ran into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The NRMA had joined the class action in July this year and had been representing more than 2000 policy holders out of the nearly 4000 plaintiffs involved in the litigation against the Governments. Class actions run by QBE and Suncorp are continuing, together with a number of individual claims. Trial is set for middle of next year.
The NRMA refused to tell the ABC its reasons for stopping the litigation. It’s a bit surprising that they seem to have withdrawn so soon after joining in (and it’s not like they rushed to join in – the negligence litigation started years ago).
Does anyone know the reasons for the NRMA’s about face?
I assume that the NRMA has already paid its policy holders for their losses caused by the bushfires, and that the class action was really designed for the NRMA to recoup its losses and keep their shareholders happy. But I may be wrong about that.