You are permitted to register your interestsif you had a car loan between 1 January 2011 and 31 March 2016 given under ANZ’s credit licence that was arranged by a car dealer.The class action involves car loans that began with Esanda and were transferred to Macquarie Bank / Macquarie Leasing.
Please remember that car loans directly from Macquarie Leasing do not form a part of this class action. For car loans directly from Macquarie Leasing, go through the Macquarie Leasing Car Loan Class Action given below.
You are eligible to register your interests if you had a car loan between 1 March 2013 and 31 October 2018 given under Macquarie Leasing’s credit licence that was arranged by a car dealer.
Please note that car loans that began with Esanda and then were transferred to Macquarie Leasing do not form a part of this class action. For Esanda car loans, go through the Esanda Car Loan Class Action above.
The method had the consequence of allowing consumers to be charged drastically varying interest rates by the same middleman, depending on their capacity to negotiate the rate.Flex commissions were banned by ASIC on 1 November 2018.
Am I eligible to join the Car Loan Flex Commission class actions?
Westpac Car Loan Class Action
You are eligible to register your interest if you had a car loan between 1 March 2013 and 31 October 2018 issued under Westpac or St George’s credit licence (including Bank of Melbourne) that was organised by a car dealer.
Esanda Car Loan Class Action
You are eligible to register your interest if you had a car loan between 1 January 2011 and 31 March 2016 issued under ANZ’s credit licence that was organised by a car dealer.
The class action includes car loans that started with Esanda and were transferred to Macquarie Bank / Macquarie Leasing. Please note that car loans directly from Macquarie Leasing are not part of this class action. For car loans directly from Macquarie Leasing, see the Macquarie Leasing Car Loan Class Action section below.
Macquarie Leasing Car Loan Class Action
You are eligible to register your interest if you had a car loan between 1 March 2013 and 31 October 2018 issued under Macquarie Leasing’s credit licence that was organised by a car dealer.
Please note that car loans that started with Esanda and then were transferred to Macquarie Leasing are not part of this class action. For Esanda car loans, see the Esanda Car Loan Class Action section above.
It doesn’t cost you anything to register your interest in our class action.
About the Car Loan Flex class actions
The class actions concern commission arrangements that were used by Westpac, St. George, ANZ, Macquarie Leasing and motor dealers to set the rate of interest charged to consumers.
Flex commissions were a common form of commission in the car finance industry for remunerating intermediaries such as car dealers and brokers, and which in many instances led to higher rates of interest being charged on car loans than otherwise would have been the case. The practice was banned by ASIC on 1 November 2018.
In a flex commission arrangement:
Royal Commission comment:
Flex commission arrangements were not disclosed to the consumer. The final report of the Banking Royal Commission said:
Many borrowers knew nothing of these arrangements. Lenders did not publicise them; dealers did not reveal them. The dealer’s interest in securing the highest rate possible is obvious. It was the consumer who bore the cost. To the borrower, the dealer might have appeared to be acting for the borrower by submitting a loan proposal on behalf of the borrower. The borrower was given no indication that in fact the dealer was looking after its own interests rather than acting as a mere conduit between lender and borrower. For all the borrower knew, the interest rate the dealer quoted had been fixed by the lender. But, whenever the dealer quoted a rate larger than the base rate, the dealer was acting in its own interests.
The effect of the practice was that consumers could be charged significantly different interest rates from the same intermediary, depending on their ability to negotiate that rate. For example, the same car dealer on the same day could set the interest rate at 6.5% for one consumer and 15.15% p.a. for another consumer even though they bought the same model of vehicle for similar value.
Want to find out more?
Please see below some frequently-asked questions about the case.
If you would like further information regarding the class action, please contact us at help@taxcellentconsulting.com or on (02) 8000 8666.
Please bear in mind that our phone lines and inbox may be quite busy with queries during this period, particularly given the ongoing disruptions associated with the COVID-19 health crisis. We will endeavour to respond to your calls and emails as soon as we can and thank you for your patience and understanding.
FAQ’s
Taxcellent Consulting Services is Australia’s leading class action law firm. We have achieved the nation’s largest class actions recoveries, collectively having recovered over $3.6 billion in compensation for victims of wrongdoing.
Registering your interest in the Car Loan Flex Commission class action will not expose you to any out of pocket costs. All costs in the proceeding will be borne by Taxcellent Consulting Services unless and until there is a successful outcome. In the event of a successful outcome, any costs payable by Lawtax360 will be deducted from, and will not exceed, any compensation that you are entitled to receive. All such costs are required to be considered and approved by the Court.
Nothing.
As a member of the class (and not the Representative, in whose name the case has been brought), an adverse costs order may not be made directly against you in respect of the determination of the common issues in the class action. Unless and until there is a successful outcome, all costs will be borne by lawTax360.
Where seven or more people have claims that arise out of similar circumstances, a class action can be brought by one claimant on their own behalf and as a representative of others.
The class action process saves time and expense by avoiding the need for the courts to determine common issues of fact or law more than once. Class actions are efficient, enabling disputes and claims involving large numbers of people to be resolved via a single case.
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