Black Saturday victims could wait until late 2016 or early 2017 for settlement payments according to documents sent by class action lawyers.
Maurice Blackburn states that “99 per cent of personal injury claimants have now attended a meeting with assessing counsel,” and “that we will be able to make a settlement distribution to personal injury claimants towards the end of 2016 or early 2017.”
The lawyers say that up to 80 per cent of Provisional Notices of Assesment have been completed and a “large number” of Final Notices of Assesment have been issued.
Property loss claimants may be waiting even longer as these claims are “somewhat less advanced than the assessment of the personal injury claims,” Maurice Blackburn’s Andrew Watson said.
According to a press article of June 29, it was estimated that “it would be around 70 cents in the dollar for personal injury, and around 30 cents in the dollar for property (claims) …”
It is anticipated that a “substantial portion” of the Final Notices of assessment for property
only claimants should be issued over the coming month.
Between February 1 and April 30 this year, Supreme Court Justice Jack Forrest found that an amount of $3,619.677.85 for “settlement administration costs … be approved.”
The court also found that $1,200,000 (total $4,819,677.85) for the assessment of “ELPD (economic loss and property damage) be approved for the “period of May 1 to June 30” this year.
Maurice Blackburn states that since the settlement approval that the ‘Settlement Distribution Team’ has “engaged in over 20,000 standard communications with group members” and “over 40,000 other communications with group members …” in relation to claimants’ settlement issues.
Another two scheduled case management conferences are to be held in the Supreme Court on Monday, September 12 and Monday, November 14.
As the Supreme Court has only approved costs until June 30, it is expected that further administration costs may be granted at these future hearings.
Full transcripts and findings of Justice Jack Forrest can be found here.
