Money Max Int Pty Limited (Trustee) v QBE Insurance Group Limited

Money Max International Pty Limited (Trustee) brought a representative proceeding against QBE Insurance Group Limited. The dispute was over the approval of a settlement under section 33V of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth). The key issues were whether the proposed settlement was fair and reasonable, the reasonableness of legal costs charged by the legal representatives, the reasonableness of the proposed settlement administration costs, the appropriateness of the funding rate, and the reasonableness of the applicants' reimbursement claims. The court had to determine if the settlement was fair and reasonable, considering the evidence provided by both parties. It also had to decide on the reasonableness of the legal costs, the settlement administration costs, the funding rate, and the reimbursement claims.

The court examined the evidence and found that QBE had complied with the class closure orders and sent Class Closure Notices to all relevant parties. It rejected Aberdeen's claims that it did not receive the notices, finding their evidence to be second or third-hand hearsay and inherently unlikely. The court found that the proposed settlement was fair and reasonable, the legal costs were reasonable, the settlement administration costs were reasonable, and the funding rate was appropriate. The reimbursement claims were also deemed reasonable. Based on this, the court granted approval for the settlement.

The court ordered that the settlement distribution scheme be approved with a modified clause to protect the administrator and administrator staff from liability, except in cases of wilful fraud or wrongdoing. The court also appointed Maurice Blackburn Pty Ltd as the administrator of the settlement distribution scheme and approved the amount to be paid to International Litigation Funding Partners Pte Ltd as consideration for funding the proceeding. Further orders were left open for the court to make as it saw fit.