MTA motor vehicle add-on insurance refunds

Are you owed a refund for MTA add-on insurance?

MTA Insurance is refunding up to $17.2 million to approximately 41,000 customers who bought add-on insurance through car dealerships across Australia. The insurance was provided by MTA Insurance, owned by Suncorp.

The refunds are being paid because customers were sold insurance that provided little or no value.

Here we explain who is entitled to a refund and how to contact MTA Insurance if you have any questions about the refund process.

Am I entitled to a refund?
What will my refund be?
What if I disagree with MTA's refund offer?
What is add-on insurance?
Why is ASIC concerned about add-on insurance?

Am I entitled to a refund?

You may be entitled to a refund if you bought Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) or Consumer Credit Insurance (CCI) that was provided by MTA Insurance, when you bought a car from a dealer between 2009 and 2017.

Refunds will be offered to customers who:

were sold GAP insurance for a new car from 31 August 2011, and their policy was still active on 1 September 2017
were under 25 when they bought a CCI policy after 1 July 2011
bought both CCI and GAP insurance after 24 June 2010 and paid off their car loan before 24 June 2016, or
purchased 'Class D' GAP insurance between 15 December 2009 and 14 December 2015 but, when they bought the car, there was no gap between the loan amount and the payout they would have received from a comprehensive insurance policy if their car had been written off.

If you bought a car between 2009 and 2017, you should check if you bought MTA GAP or CCI insurance.

MTA Insurance will write to all affected customers from 15 January 2018. If you don't receive a letter but you think you might be eligible for a refund, you can contact MTA Insurance on 1800 571 921, or by emailing support@mtai.com.au.

SMS about refunds

If you are eligible for a refund, MTA Insurance will send you a refund cheque. If you have not already received or deposited the cheque, MTAI may contact you by SMS (text message).

You can verify the text by contacting MTA Insurance on 1800 571 921.

What will my refund be?

If you bought a new car

If you bought a new car and have a MTA GAP insurance policy that was active on 1 September 2017, you will be refunded some of the premium you paid because:

there was no gap to cover when you bought the car
you were sold cover that was more expensive than you needed, or
you could have claimed a replacement vehicle under your comprehensive insurance policy if your car was a total write-off.

If you were under 25

If you were under 25 when you were sold the MTA CCI insurance, you can get a refund for the cost of the life and trauma element of the insurance (unless you choose to keep the policy). This is because you were unlikely to have had dependents who would rely on the insurance to meet loan repayments if you died or could no longer earn an income.

Before deciding whether you want to keep the policy, consider whether you already have another type of insurance in place. For example, you may have life insurance or income protection insurance through your super fund.

If you bought both CCI and GAP insurance

If you took out both MTA CCI and GAP insurance and have paid off your loan early, you will be given a partial refund of the premium you paid for the GAP insurance. This is because you no longer needed the GAP insurance from the date you paid off your loan.

If you were sold MTA GAP insurance with a 'Class D' type of policy, you will be refunded the premium because you would not have been able to claim under the policy if your car was written off.

What if I disagree with MTA's refund offer?

If you are not happy with the refund offered, you can discuss this with MTA by calling them on 1800 571 921. If you are not happy with how they handle your complaint, you can ask for it to be reviewed by MTA Insurance's internal dispute resolution team.

For tips on lodging a complaint, see how to complain.

If MTA takes more than 45 days to respond to your complaint, or if you're not happy with the decision it makes, you should contact the Financial Ombudsman Service on 1800 367 287 or visit fos.org.au.

You can complain even if you accept the refund.

What if I am not covered by MTA's refund program?

MTA's refund program covers customers ASIC has identified were sold insurance with little or no value.

However, other customers may also be entitled to a refund. For example, you may have bought the policy because the sales person said you had to buy the insurance to get the loan.

You can raise concerns about your policy or how it was sold to you by calling MTA Insurance on 1800 634 294 or emailing support@mtai.com.au. If you are not happy with MTA's response, you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service on 1800 367 287 or visit fos.org.au.

You can also receive information or help from:

The Consumer Action Law Centre (Victoria only)
The Insurance Law Service

What is add-on insurance?

There are many different types of add-on insurance policies that might be sold to you when you buy a car at a car yard. These include:

GAP insurance - Covers the lender for the difference between what you owe on the car loan, and what the car is insured for under comprehensive car insurance, if you write your car off. You can also buy 'purchase price gap insurance' that's not linked to a loan. This type of gap insurance pays you the difference between what your comprehensive car insurance pays out, and what you paid for the car.
CCI insurance - Provides some cover if you can't meet the repayments on your loan if you die, suffer a traumatic illness (such as cancer), or become disabled or unemployed. If you need to claim, the money will go to your lender, not you.

Why is ASIC concerned about add-on insurance?

ASIC is concerned that MTA's CCI insurance was sold to young people who had no dependents and were unlikely to need the cover.

ASIC is also concerned that MTA GAP insurance was sold to customers who did not need it because:

there was no gap to cover, for example because they paid a large deposit
they already had similar cover under their comprehensive insurance cover
they were sold more insurance than they needed, or
they did not receive rebates when they paid out their car loan early, even though the cover under the policy had ended.

The MTA refunds are a direct result of ASIC's 2016 review of the sale of add-on insurance through car dealers, which uncovered the wide-spread sale of insurance with little or no value to customers.

To find out more, see ASIC's media release.

Other refunds following ASIC's investigation into add-on insurance

ASIC has identified unfair conduct by a number of insurers who offer add-on insurance and extended warranties by car dealers or finance brokers. As a result, these insurers have agreed to refund over $120 million to customers who were sold these products.

For more information, see refunds for unfair sales of add-on insurance.

You may not have considered or even heard of all the 'extra' insurance offered to you by a car dealer. Before you sign up for add-on insurance, make sure you'll benefit from the insurance or don't already have similar cover from your comprehensive car insurance.