Maurice Blackburn Lawyers has backed the class action against New Zealand government-owned Southern Response.
Claims Funding Australia (CFA), the litigation funding arm of Maurice Blackburn, has signed an agreement with lawyer Grant Cameron to provide funding for the class action against the earthquake insurance settlement company.
Last year, Cameron’s firm, GCA Lawyers, filed proceedings and got the go-ahead from the High Court for the class action.
About 3,000 people may have been affected by alleged underpayment of costs of damage as a result of the Canterbury earthquakes, Cameron told Newshub. He said that most among the group, which could be owed as much as $300m, may not even know they did not receive the full payments they were owed.
The funding agreement means that “the best class action minds in the Southern Hemisphere have looked closely at this matter and they’ve decided to support it,” Cameron said.
Policy holders who settled with Southern Response before October 2014 may be qualified to participate in the action, CFA said.